A Tucson podiatrist pleaded guilty in Pima County Superior Court to forging oxycodone prescriptions, state officials said.
Loren Scott Wessel is facing up to 3¾ years in prison when he is sentenced on July 14 for forgery, according to a news release from the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
According to the AG, a veterinary supply company contacted the Drug Enforcement Administration after Wessel made a purchase of more than 5,000 oxycodone tablets. Investigators learned Wessel was filling forged prescriptions for narcotics at a Tucson pharmacy, the release said.
DEA and AG agents determined Wessel forged the prescriptions by using the name of a doctor. Investigators believe Wessel was not providing the oxycodone to others but was writing the fake prescriptions to obtain the drugs for personal use, the news release said.
In September 2016, Wessel was indicted by a state grand jury on charges of fraudulent schemes and artifices, acquisition of a narcotic by fraud, and forgery.
As a condition of his plea, Wessel will give up his DEA license to prescribe narcotics, the AG said.
