LOS ANGELES
Benjamin Jamal Washington, 25, of Hyattsville, Md., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances for running a scheme that stole doctors’ identities and issued thousands of fake e-prescriptions, officials announced Friday.
From September 2020 to May 2023, Washington and others harvested physicians’ personal data—including NPI and DEA numbers—used fake driver’s licenses, and paid corrupt phone-company employees for illegal SIM swaps to seize doctors’ phone numbers.
With that access, they opened e-prescribing accounts in the doctors’ names and, after learning pharmacy submission patterns, sent at least 5,600 fraudulent prescriptions for drugs such as oxycodone and promethazine with codeine. Conspirators then picked up the drugs at pharmacies nationwide, including in the Los Angeles area, and resold them for profit.
Washington is in custody. U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu set sentencing for January 13, 2026; Washington faces up to 42 years in federal prison, including a mandatory two-year consecutive term for the identity-theft count.
The FBI and DEA investigated.