Massachusetts doctor sentenced to prison in drug distribution scheme

BOSTON – An Uxbridge doctor was sentenced on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2020 in connection with her role in a scheme to prescribe Adderall to individuals without a legitimate medical purpose.

Leslie Caraceni M.D., 58, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to seven years in prison and three years of supervised release. In February 2019, Caraceni pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute Adderall and three counts of distributing and dispensing Adderall in August 2020.

Caraceni was indicted in November 2018 along with Rene Ruliera, 52, of Southborough, who pleaded guilty in August 2019 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 24, 2021. Co-conspirator Meghan Giacomuzzi, 37, of Whitinsville, pleaded guilty in February 2019 and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 15, 2021.

Between March 2016 and February 2018, Caraceni, Ruliera and Giacomuzzi conspired to distribute Adderall, an amphetamine, for reasons other than for a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual course of medical practice. Caraceni hired both Ruliera and Giacomuzzi to work at her medical practice in Framingham and later in Whitinsville, and enlisted both in a conspiracy to sell and distribute Adderall to individuals who had not been medically examined or given a clinical diagnosis to warrant a prescription. Office visitors met with either Ruliera or Giacomuzzi, discussed their desired prescription, paid for their office visit, and left with a signed prescription for Adderall. Office visits lasted just minutes and each such visit cost approximately $200, payable in cash or through a credit card or debit card. Caraceni collected the cash from the office or received funds through deposits to her bank account.

Caraceni provided Ruliera and Giacomuzzi with blank prescription pads and explained how to fill out prescriptions for sale. Electronic communications between the defendants documented Caraceni’s knowledge of the prescriptions written by Ruliera and Giacomuzzi, the number of office visitors seen in her absence, and the volume of proceeds realized as result of their sale of prescriptions to those visitors. Between November 2015 and July 2018, records from the Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring Program show that well over 1,500 prescriptions for Adderall—amounting to over 110,000 pills—were filled in Massachusetts alone based on Caraceni’s prescriptions.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; Uxbridge Police Chief Marc Montminy; and Southborough Police Chief Kenneth Paulhus made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Estes of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.