17 Arrests Made for Forged Prescriptions; 8 Busted in Hicksville

Seventeen people, including eight at a CVS pharmacy in Hicksville, face felony charges of forging prescriptions at various pharmacies throughout Nassau  County.

Eight of those arrested had attempted to fill forged prescriptions to obtain painkillers at the CVS in Hicksville, at the corner of Old Country Road and Newbridge Road, authorities said.

In one case, a woman posed as a doctor or nurse practitioner on seven different occasions and called in prescriptions for patients whose identity she had stolen.

That suspect, identified as Irene Cicolello, 33, of Copiague, then appeared at the pharmacy as the patient and purchased the drugs, using the women's stolen medical insurance plan. Cicolello was accused of calling in the oxycodone presecriptions at five different CVS drug stores between Oct. 23, 2011 and and Jan. 27, the Long Island Press reported. None of those stores were at the Hicksville location.

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano and Police Commissioner Thomas Dale made the announcement Thursday of the drug sweep conducted over several weeks by the Nassau County Police Department’s Narcotics Squad.

“From police to probation, Nassau County is combating the prescription drug epidemic,” Mangano said in a statement.  “...We will continue to work together with all levels of government and law enforcement to address and solve this crisis.”

Another individual allegedly stole a prescription pad from a doctor and wrote several prescriptions for Promethazine with Codeine. The other arrests were for individuals attempting to fill forged prescriptions at independent pharmacies.

Mangano's office also announced a new joint initiative involving Nassau County police and probation officers which resulted in the arrest of three probationers: two for illegal possession of prescription drugs without prescriptions and one on a violation of probation warrant for using heroin.

Arrests in Nassau County for forging opiate drug prescriptions have quadrupled this year; from four arrests in Nassau County at this time last year, to the 17 arrested this year.

The number of arrests for opiate possession and distribution more than tripled between 2010 and 2011. In 2009, Nassau police made 32 fraudulent prescription arrests and 388 heroin arrests.

In 2010, there were 48 fraudulent prescription arrests; 418 heroin arrests and 127 opiate arrests.

And in 2011, there were 33 arrests for prescription fraud; 227 heroin arrests and nearly double the arrests, 432, for opiates.

Nassau Police and Mangano's press office did not immediately have a list of the other suspects accused in the investigation.