A former Great Neck doctor who sold painkillers to convicted Medford pharmacy killers David Laffer and Melinda Brady entered into a plea deal in federal District Court in Central Islip on Monday in which he admitted to illegally selling narcotic painkillers to 19 patients out of his Northern Boulevard office.
Eric Jacobson, 51 and a resident of Huntington, pleaded guilty to 19 counts of illegal distribution of oxycodone after his office was raided by Internal Revenue Service and Drug Enforcement Agency agents in December of 2011.
“On December 1st, 2011, I signed a voluntary surrender of my DEA registration,” Jacobson reportedly said in court. “After I signed that I wrote 19 prescriptions…on that day or the following day without a valid registration.”
Jacobson said he wrote the illegal prescriptions because he thought he’d get his DEA registration back.
The raid of Jacobson’s 277 Northern Boulevard office followed an investigation that tied him to Laffer and Brady, who were convicted of killing a Medford pharmacist on Father’s Day 2011.
Federal prosecutors said Jacobson sold the drugs to Laffer and Brady in exchange for large amounts of cash.
Jacobson surrendered his DEA registration that allowed him to prescribe drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone after the raid of the office but continued to sell pills to customers.
Jacobson will serve from seven to nine years in prison, under the plea deal, and forfeit $250,000 to the federal government.
The government seized $750,000 in assets from Jacobson in 2012 and will return $500,000 of that money to Jacobson’s family.
Bruce Barket, a Garden city attorney representing Jacobson, said he was pleased with the plea deal.
“It was the best resolution of a very difficult circumstance,” Barket said. “He’s very pleased with the amount of money the government will return to his family and he’s very pleased he doesn’t face a longer sentence than of seven to nine years.”
Jacobson had also been charged with 262 counts of illegally selling narcotic painkillers, which carried a sentence of 20 years per charge.
Each count represents a transaction Jacobson made with customers at his office. Jacobson charged $12,000 to $20,000 in cash for each appointment, according to law enforcement authorities.
Under the terms of the plea deal, Jacobson will not be charged for any illegal sales made before the raid of his office.
Jacobson has also surrendered his medical license, according to law enforcement authorities.
“Instead of providing needed medical services to his community, Dr. Jacobson directly contributed to the tragedy of prescription drug abuse that has swept across our district and our nation,” Eastern District U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
