LONDON, KY (Tuesday, November 12, 2024) – A Chicago woman, Judith Harskey, 56, was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison, by U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom, for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and methadone.
According to her plea agreement, beginning in 2019 through November 2022, Harskey conspired with others to distribute oxycodone and methadone, while working as a receptionist at the Midwest Physician Pain Center, a pain clinic in Chicago. During the conspiracy timeframe, numerous Perry County, Kentucky patients regularly traveled to the clinic; and without seeing a doctor, they paid Harskey a cash co-pay. She then filled out prescriptions that were previously signed by the absent owner/physician, for oxycodone, methadone, and other controlled substances. Harskey never possessed prescribing authority.
When law enforcement ultimately executed a search warrant, on November 18, 2022, they recovered 541 blank, pre-signed prescriptions from Harskey’s office, including 30 from her purse.
Under federal law, Harskey must serve 85 percent of her prison sentence. Upon her release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 3 years.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Jim Scott, Special Agent in Charge, DEA, Louisville Field Division, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA. Assistant U.S. Attorney Pearce Nesbitt is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
– END –
