Lilian Jakacki, a/k/a Lilian Wieckowski, dumped 100,000 illegally diverted oxycodone tablets onto New York City streets through her two Brooklyn and Queens pharmacies, authorities say. The pharmacist, once trusted to dispense medicine, instead exploited her license to fuel the opioid epidemic for personal profit—now she’s paying the price with four years behind bars.
Jakacki was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan federal court after pleading guilty on July 28, 2016. The charges: illegal distribution of controlled substances, Medicare fraud, and money laundering. Operating under the name Chopin Chemists, Jakacki used her dual pharmacies as fronts for a criminal enterprise that flooded vulnerable communities with prescription narcotics.
From March 2010 to October 2015, Jakacki knowingly filled fraudulent prescriptions—some in the names of luxury brands like Coach and Chanel—to push tens of thousands of oxycodone pills. These weren’t isolated incidents but part of a calculated, greedy operation. The scam didn’t stop at drug distribution: she overbilled Medicare by more than $500,000, billing for drugs never given to patients while pocketing the reimbursements.
The cash flowed in, and Jakacki used the illicit gains to finance a multimillion-dollar home. The lifestyle upgrade came at the public’s expense—while patients were defrauded and neighborhoods were poisoned by diverted opioids, Jakacki lived large off the suffering she helped create. Her greed left a trail of addiction and deception from Queens to Brooklyn.
In addition to her 48-month prison term, Jakacki was ordered to forfeit $800,000 in ill-gotten assets and pay $520,000 in restitution. The judgment marks a rare accountability moment in the broader opioid crisis, where few at the distribution level face consequences. Federal prosecutors made an example of Jakacki, sending a message to rogue healthcare providers.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office led the prosecution, called the crimes a betrayal of public trust. “Driven by greed, Jakacki abused her pharmacy license, helping to fuel the opioid abuse epidemic.” The investigation was conducted by the DEA’s Tactical Diversion Squad, IRS, and HHS, with local law enforcement from NYPD, New York State Police, and others. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sidhardha Kamaraju, Jordan Estes, and Louis A. Pellegrino handled the case.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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