The online system doctors use to prescribe pain medication was created to crack down on illegal scripts. 21-year-old Florida man Devin Magarian appeared in a Nassau court accused of cracking the system by hacking into doctors accounts and issuing thousands of prescriptions for Oxycodone and narcotic cough medications.
Officials called it “modern day piracy”.
“The equivalent of stealing a prescription pad from a doctor’s office 10, 15, 20 years ago. Only now they are stealing it through technology.” said agent in charge Frank A. Tarentino III.
Nassau county district attorney Anne Donnelly calls it a complex sophisticated drug operation with a shocking scope.
“This defendant and his associates allegedly took that template and updated it for 2024 in a grand way.” said Donnelly.
Runners would then pick up the drugs at pharmacies across the country. An alert great neck pharmacists noticed a suspicious pick up and that prompted the investigation.
“They use those comprised accounts to fill tens of thousands of prescriptions for narcotics.” Said Donnelly.
An undercover sting nabbed Magarian on Long Island where he allegedly came to sell hundreds of Oxycodone pills to an undercover agent. Investigators say he would flood unsuspecting doctors with text messages to bury the notification their account was compromised.
A bot then created fake patient names. By the time a doctor realized they’d been hacked, it was too late.
“In one weekend 18,500 scripts were issued.” said Donnelly.
Magarian allegedly advertised the pills on the telegram app and wore its logo around his neck. Millions in alleged profits supporting a lavish life in Kissimmee, Florida.
“How are his parents doing? Not so good as you can imagine.” said defense attorney Douglas Rankin.
Magarian’s parents were in court offering to put up bail which the judge rejected.
“He has no criminal record. First time being in trouble with the law and we are going to exonerate him.” said Rankin.
It’s not yet known how many doctors have been compromised but prosecutors estimate millions of pain pills were sold illegally this way over the last year.
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