PHOENIX — A mother and her son, Frences Pope Adrian and Steven Hernandez Jr., were sentenced to prison for operating a drug ring between 2015 and 2018 that used the stolen identities of healthcare professionals.
Adrian received a five year sentence; her son was sent to prison for a four year term.
The duo pleaded guilty to fraudulent schemes and artifices, possession of narcotic drugs, and attempted possession of narcotic drugs, said a release from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
Adrian and Hernandez created thousands of fraudulent prescriptions for opioids and other dangerous drugs through the theft of identities of many doctors and other medical professionals.
They used doctors’ names and other information in to make the prescriptions appear legitimate. The duo filled the fraudulent prescriptions themselves at pharmacies throughout Phoenix and recruited others to do so.
Templates for creating the forged prescriptions and ledgers, along with the names and identifying information of physicians, were found at Adrian’s home.
Other members of the fraudulent drug ring have also been indicted.