Washington County Opioid Facility Owner Pleads Guilty To Unlawful Distribution

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Jennifer Hess, a resident of Washington, Pa., has pleaded guilty to charges of aiding and abetting unlawful distribution of controlled substances and health care fraud.

Hess was the founder and owner of Redirections Treatment Advocates LLC, an opioid treatment practice with offices in Washington, Bridgeville, Morgantown, Weirton and Moundsville, W.Va.

Hess aided and abetted the illegal distribution of opioids such as buprenorphine, also known as Subutex and Subxoxone, when she would complete blank, pre-signed prescriptions or forge the signatures of doctors' names on blank subscriptions.

She also committed health care fraud for submitting fraudulent claims to Medicaid and Medicare for payments to cover the costs of these forged prescriptions.

United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab scheduled a sentencing for October 30, 2019. The law provides for a sentence of 30 years in prison and/or a fine of $1.25 million.

According to Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and any prior criminal history.