On June 17, Bridget Brennan, New York City’s special narcotics prosecutor, announced that Anthony D’Alessandro, the former director of pharmacy services for Beth Israel Medical Center, had pleaded guilty in the theft of nearly a quarter million Oxycodone pills.
D’Alessandro pleaded guilty to four counts of criminal possession of controlled substance in the second degree.
Under the terms of the plea, he is expected to receive a sentence of five years in prison, followed by five years post-release supervision. He forfeited his pharmaceutical license in early June.
Following the plea, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Bonnie Wittner remanded D’Alessandro, who had been out on a $500,000 bail bond. His sentencing is set for July 23.
As director of pharmacy services, D’Alessandro was responsible for overseeing all of the medication stocked and dispensed at Beth Israel, at First Ave. and E. 16th St. According to charges contained in a 249-count indictment, he used the knowledge he gained during 14 years of employment at the hospital to steal nearly 200,000 Oxycodone pills, which carried a street value of roughly $5.6 million.
The investigation began after the merger of Mount Sinai Medical Center and Continuum Health Partners, the parent company of Beth Israel. The new Mount Sinai Health System received an anonymous letter shortly afterward that explained the large-scale theft and provided documentation. Administrators then conducted a comprehensive internal audit, and their findings were referred to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.
D’Alessandro was arrested last July at his home on Staten Island. Evidence uncovered in the internal audit as well as the criminal investigation found that he had used his position to steal Oxycodone pills on at least 218 separate dates between January 2009 and April 2014. Though the theft of the addictive painkilling pills cost the hospital $212,727, the oxycodone would have sold for around $5.6 million on the black market.
D’Alessandro covered up his activities by making false entries into the hospital’s electronic narcotics inventory system indicating the medication was being sent to the research pharmacy at the hospital that he himself oversaw. Because he was in charge of the department, he was able to divert the pills instead of shipping them to their stated destination.
Hospital administrators terminated D’Alessandro’s employment at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in April 2014. His weekend employment at Staten Island University Hospital was also terminated.
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Brennan thanked Mount Sinai Beth Israel for notifying the authorities and cooperating in the investigation.
— Lincoln Anderson
