NORRISTOWN — A Blue Bell pharmacist has been admitted to a special probationary program on charges he billed for hundreds of fraudulent prescriptions to illegally receive more than $86,000 from his insurance carrier.
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Carl Dean, 60, of the 200 block of Heatherwood Road, Springfield, was sentenced Tuesday in Montgomery County Court to two years’ probation and 500 hours of community service as part of his acceptance to the county’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program.
Under the terms of the ARD agreement, Dean must perform the community service with the county’s health department. Dean also must pay $1,966 in court costs. Dean, who owns and operates the Blue Bell Pharmacy at 734 DeKalb Pike, previously made a $5,000 contribution to the Norristown Police Athletic League, court papers indicate.
The ARD program is a special probationary program that allows first-time offenders of non-violent crimes to clear their criminal records if they successfully complete a period of probation.
Dean, who is represented by defense lawyer William J. Winning, had been facing trial on charges of insurance fraud, forgery, receiving stolen property, theft by deception, deceptive business practices and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between 2007 and 2010.
With the charges, authorities alleged Dean used his name and the names of relatives to submit 874 fake prescriptions to receive $86,070 in reimbursement from Independence Blue Cross Insurance.
There is no allegation that the drugs were actually dispensed. But prosecutors alleged all insurance reimbursement payments from the prescriptions went to support the pharmacy’s operations and were used for the benefit of Dean’s business.
No other persons were charged in connection with the alleged activity.
Investigators contacted the 13 doctors whose names were on the prescriptions and each doctor confirmed the prescriptions were fraudulent, according to court papers.
Court documents indicate an investigation of Dean began when Independence Blue Cross became suspicious of some of the submissions Dean made for payment for drugs he claimed to dispense. Insurance company officials then contacted authorities, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed by county Detective Michael Gilbert.
