He could get four years when sentenced.
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) – Federal authorities say a 60-year-old physician has pleaded guilty to a drug charge, admitting he obtained the powerful painkiller fentanyl by fraudulently entering the name of a patient on whom he didn’t intend to use it at a veteran’s hospital in West Virginia.
According to prosecutors, Dr. Daniel J. Bochicchio, of Monkton, Maryland, could face up to four years in prison convicted of the single charge from March, and a fine of up to $250,000.. His charge is “Acquiring Fentanyl by Misrepresentation, Fraud, Deception, and Subterfuge,” according to a news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.
An indictment accused the anesthesiologist of 15 counts at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
He was relieved of his hospital duties in June.
By The Associated Press