Melissa Paradise, Opioid Theft, Massachusetts 2022

Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing Opioids from Veterinary Office

A West Barnstable woman has been sentenced to time served and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to stealing hydrocodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, from the veterinary office where she worked.

Melissa Paradise, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns on June 15, 2022, in federal court in Boston.

Paradise pleaded guilty on February 10, 2022, to six counts of acquiring a controlled substance using a registration number assigned to another person and eight counts of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, and subterfuge.

The investigation began in late 2018 and 2019, when federal investigators noticed an unusually large amount of hydrocodone had been ordered by the veterinary office.

During an audit at the animal hospital in June 2019, Paradise was identified as the office manager responsible for record-keeping regarding prescriptions.

Paradise admitted to investigators that she used the DEA registration number assigned to a veterinarian in the practice without the veterinarian’s knowledge or consent to order controlled substances, which she then stole for her personal use.

She also admitted to forging the signature of a second veterinarian on other prescription documents and diverting those drugs for her own use.

The second veterinarian later confirmed that the signature on the documents was forged.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadine Pellegrini of Rollins’ Criminal Division prosecuted the case, with valuable assistance provided by the Barnstable Police Department.

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