A suspended Absecon doctor accused of leading a drug-trafficking ring has pleaded guilty to distribution charges.
Alan Faustino along with six others admitted to their parts in the illegal endeavor, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner announced Thursday.
Faustino, now 50, was arrested April 22, 2015, after a four-month investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Unit.
Faustino would sell prescriptions for opioids like OxyContin, Roxicodone and Alprazolam, along with prescribing drugs for “patients’ he never met.
Jason Cylc, Stephen Sklar, Jeffrey Millman, Claudio Valentin, Ashley Channell and Kara Minchin also pleaded guilty.
Channell, 29, and Minchin, 30, both of Galloway Township, worked in Faustino’s office and would at times remind the patients when it was time to return for their 30-day refill.
After the prescriptions were given, they would be taken to pharmacies to fill. Some would be returned to Faustino or through Cylc and Minchin for sale on the street or to use.
Cylc, 42, of Brigantine, would purchase large quantities of the pills from the “patients” at below street value and resell on the street.
Together the defendants would recruit alleged patients to participate in the scheme.
Faustino faces as long as 10 years in prison when he is sentenced April 15.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Absecon Police Department.
