New Haven’s ‘Pun’ Gets 57 Months for Oxycodone Prescription Scam

Alejandro Prosper, also known as “Pun,” 36, of New Haven, was hit with 57 months behind bars for his role in a sprawling oxycodone prescription scam that flooded the streets of Connecticut with tens of thousands of illegally obtained pills. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson handed down the sentence in Hartford, followed by four years of supervised release, after Prosper admitted his involvement in a conspiracy that exploited medical identities and state healthcare programs for profit.

The scheme, which ran from February 2013 to September 2015, was uncovered by the DEA’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad. Investigators found that Prosper purchased bulk quantities of oxycodone from co-conspirators Julian Cintron and David Thompson—both of New Haven and already convicted—then distributed the narcotics to his own network of buyers. Each 30-milligram pill sold for $20 to $30, cash fueling a cycle of addiction and crime across the region.

At the core of the operation: stolen identities. More than 50 doctors and medical professionals had their personal identifying information ripped off and used to forge prescriptions. The trafficking ring also paid individuals for their Medicaid-covered prescriptions, then deployed so-called “runners” to cash them at pharmacies statewide. Once a runner’s details were logged, they were reused repeatedly—investigators tied over 800 fraudulent prescriptions to more than 270 fake patient names.

Because most runners were enrolled in state-sponsored medical insurance, the cost of the prescriptions was billed directly to Medicaid. This turned a government healthcare program into a financial pipeline for a criminal enterprise. In total, the ring fraudulently obtained more than 80,000 oxycodone pills, exploiting both public trust and systemic loopholes.

Prosper pleaded guilty on October 18, 2016, to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone. His sentencing wraps a key chapter in a case that has already ensnared 11 individuals. Cintron and Thompson have also pleaded guilty and await their own day in court.

The investigation was a joint effort by the DEA Tactical Diversion Squad, which includes officers from the Bristol, Greenwich, Hamden, Milford, New Haven, Shelton, Vernon, and Wilton Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy C. Brown and Robert M. Spector led the prosecution, underscoring federal resolve to dismantle organized prescription drug rings operating under the radar.