A federal judge slammed down the gavel on Khar Abdulah, 40, of New Castle, Delaware, sentencing him to ten years behind bars for a ruthless scheme built on forged oxycodone prescriptions, health care fraud, and stolen identities. U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger announced the verdict, underscoring the toll such crimes take on public health and taxpayer-funded medical systems.
U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond handed down the sentence yesterday, ordering Abdulah to serve a full decade in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. On top of the time, Judge Diamond mandated full restitution to every health care benefit program defrauded by Abdulah and his co-conspirators during the height of the opioid crisis.
The case traces back to March 18, 2016, when a Philadelphia grand jury returned a second superseding indictment charging Abdulah and a codefendant with conspiracy to distribute oxycodone—a Schedule II controlled substance—alongside counts of health care fraud and aggravated identity theft. The operation wasn’t a one-off; it was a calculated hustle running from March 2012 to August 2013.
During that two-year stretch, Abdulah forged prescriptions for oxycodone, then used stolen health insurance information to fill them at pharmacies across the region. Once in hand, he moved the pills straight to the street, flooding communities with highly addictive narcotics while billing insurers for the fraudulently obtained drugs.
On August 16, 2016, Abdulah pleaded guilty to all charges, cutting short a trial but doing little to soften the blow of a decade-long sentence. His cooperation, if any, wasn’t factored into leniency—federal prosecutors pushed hard for accountability in a case emblematic of the broader opioid epidemic.
The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with Assistant United States Attorney Mary E. Crawley handling the prosecution. As the Grimy Times continues to track opioid-related crime, cases like Abdulah’s reveal how identity theft and prescription fraud remain deadly weapons in the underground drug trade.
Related Federal Cases
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- Northampton Man Guilty in Delaware Water Gap Theft Ring · Delaware
- Delco Podiatrist Stephen Monaco Gets 8 Years for $5M Fraud · Delaware
- Chester Man Hameed Gets 8 Years in Gov Home Fraud · Delaware
- Jury Convicts Leaford Cameron in Nationwide Law Fraud Scheme · Pennsylvania
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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