Suboxone Clinic Owner Sentenced to More than a Year in Prison for Unlawfully Dispensing Prescription Drugs and Defrauding Highmark

PITTSBURGH, PA. - A suburban Pittsburgh resident has been sentenced in federal court to 15 months’ imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $4,845.24 in restitution on her conviction of unlawfully distributing controlled substances and health care fraud, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer imposed the sentence on Terri C. Brown, 53, of Morrow Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15241.

According to information presented to the court, Brown owned and operated Cherry Way, a Suboxone clinic, located in Bridgeville, PA. Her co-defendant,Mark Foster was the medical director at Cherry Way. Brown and Foster conspired together to create and submit unlawful prescriptions for Suboxone, Adderall and Percocet, and then unlawfully dispensed those controlled substances to Brown and to other persons. Brown also plead guilty to a charge of health care fraud for allegedly submitting fraudulent claims to Highmark through Cherry Way, for payments to cover the costs of the unlawfully prescribed Suboxone, Adderall and Percocet.

Assistant United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

The investigation leading to the filing of charges in these cases was conducted by the Western Pennsylvania Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit (OFADU). The Western Pennsylvania OFADU, led by federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, combines the expertise and resources of federal and state law enforcement to address the role played by unethical medical professionals in the opioid epidemic. This unit has investigated and prosecuted more corrupt health care professionals than any other U.S. Attorney’s Office in the country.

The agencies which comprise the Western Pennsylvania OFADU include: Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General - Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General – Bureau of Narcotic Investigations, United States Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Attorney’s Office – Criminal Division, Civil Division and Asset Forfeiture Unit, Department of Veterans Affairs-Office of Inspector General, Food and Drug Administration-Office of Criminal Investigations, U.S. Office of Personnel Management – Office of Inspector General and the Pennsylvania Bureau of Licensing.