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Wagner “Wanny” Checonolasco, 34, had an accomplice in Lisa M. Hoffman, 48, of Orange, who worked in the pharmacy of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in East Orange, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Surveillance cameras helped show how Hoffman “placed large orders for HIV medication, purportedly on behalf of the VAMC,” then stole the excess once it was delivered, Honig said.
Encrypted messages outlined how the scheme worked, authorities, an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Newark says.
Hoffman was responsible for ordering and maintaining the inventory of drugs and supplies for the outpatient pharmacy, Honig said.
She used her authority in that job “to order large quantities of HIV prescription medications,” from October 2015 through November 2019, “so that she could steal the excess,” the U.S. attorney said.
“After the medications arrived, Hoffman waited until co-workers were out of sight and then removed them from the VAMC,” she said.
Video shows her “placing them in a white mail bin, and then transferring the medications from the mail bin to her bag and exiting with the stolen medication,” Honig said.
Checonolasco went to Hoffman’s home to buy the medication before selling it for a profit, the U.S. attorney said.
Checonolasco took a deal from the government rather than risk trial, pleading guilty Tuesday in federal court in Newark to conspiring to steal government property.
Prosecutors didn’t say whether Checonolasco, as part of his plea deal, agreed to testify against Hoffman, who remains charged with conspiracy, theft of government property, and theft of medical products.
U.S. District Judge Esther Salas Wagner scheduled his sentencing for Dec. 15.
Honig credited special agents of the FBI and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Northeast Field Office with the ongoing investigation leading to the plea, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole F. Mastropieri of her Health Care Fraud Unit in Newark.
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