Ludwikowski, Goldfield Busted in Medford Pill Mill Scheme

Michael Ludwikowski, 44, of Medford, and David Goldfield, 58, of Medford Lakes, New Jersey, are behind bars after being indicted on 16 counts tied to a five-year pill mill operation that flooded South Jersey with oxycodone and other Schedule II narcotics. Federal prosecutors say the two pharmacists turned two Medford pharmacies — Olde Medford Pharmacy and Medford Family Pharmacy — into illegal drug outlets, knowingly filling fake prescriptions and laundering opioids to addicts for cash and gifts.

The indictment alleges that from March 2008 through August 2013, Ludwikowski, the owner of both pharmacies, and Goldfield, his employee, distributed massive amounts of controlled substances without legitimate medical purpose. Customers walked in with chemically altered prescriptions — ‘washed’ or ‘bleached’ to erase original non-narcotic scrips — then rewrote them for oxycodone. Ludwikowski and Goldfield ignored glaring red flags, including an employee’s warning about an obviously doctored prescription, prosecutors say.

Ludwikowski allegedly manipulated supply chains by fraudulently requesting increased thresholds from a national distributor for oxycodone shipments. The distributor required valid justification for higher volumes, but court documents show Ludwikowski lied about medical demand, knowing the drugs would feed addiction, not treatment. Tens of thousands of dosage units flowed into his pharmacies under false pretenses, then straight into the veins and lungs of users across Burlington County.

Cash was king at the Medford pill mills. Customers paid in bills, often slipped alongside ‘gifts’ meant to grease the wheels of crime. Some filled fraudulent oxycodone prescriptions multiple times a week, enabled by Ludwikowski and Goldfield’s blatant disregard for federal dispensing laws. The scheme didn’t run solo — the indictment references ‘Pharmacist 3,’ an unnamed co-conspirator who allegedly partnered with Ludwikowski to coordinate illegal distributions with a physician, further embedding the operation in the underground opioid economy.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman didn’t mince words: ‘Instead, Ludwikowski and Goldfield allegedly chose to exacerbate the problem by selling opiates to customers with fake prescriptions or to individuals whom they knew to be addicts.’ FBI Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher called the arrests a win for communities ravaged by opioid abuse. DEA New Jersey Chief Carl J. Kotowski added, ‘They should have been doing their part to help in the reduction of the opioid epidemic we are facing. Instead, based on the charges, they have played a part in adding to the epidemic.’

The two defendants appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Schneider in Camden federal court. Ludwikowski faces an additional charge of using his cellphone in furtherance of the conspiracy. If convicted, both men could face decades in prison as the DOJ tightens the noose on medical professionals profiting from America’s opioid crisis.