New Rochelle doctor pleads guilty to distributing oxycodone for money

A Westchester doctor admitted to taking cash to prescribe thousands of oxycodone, amphetamine and Xanax pills without a medical exam.

Dr. Mordechai Bar, an internist practicing in New Rochelle, pleaded guilty Monday in White Plains federal court to distributing oxycodone and other controlled substances.

“Dr. Mordechai Bar hid behind his medical license while prescribing oxycodone without a legitimate medical need,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement announcing Bar’s guilty plea. “Like everything A drug dealer, he injected highly addictive substances onto the streets for profit, without considering the impact on the community.

Oxycodone is a highly addictive opioid used as a pain reliever. Amphetamine, commonly prescribed as Adderall, is a stimulant that treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Alprazolam, prescribed as Xanax, is a benzodiazepine that treats anxiety and panic disorder. According to the complaint, the three drugs are often referred to as the “Holy Trinity” cocktail favored by oxycodone addicts because of their cumulative chemical effect – with the risk of fatal overdose being increased due to the combination of the opioid and benzodiazepine.

DEA Had Record Meetings With Mordechai Bar For Drug Dealers

The investigation of Bar by DEA agents began early last year when a drug dealer seeking leniency in his own criminal case detailed a decade of visits to Bar to obtain prescriptions for the three drugs in the name of the trafficker and their parents.

From February 2023 to April of this year, agents then had the dealer secretly record Bar during monthly visits to obtain the prescriptions in those three names, as well as the false name of an undercover agent. None of the visits included a medical examination and generally lasted less than five minutes, according to the criminal complaint. The dealer paid Bar about $500 each visit, sometimes paying staff an additional amount if they provided the prescriptions without Bar seeing the dealer.

Monthly prescriptions typically totaled more than 900 oxycodone pills, 180 Adderall pills and more than 300 Xanax pills.

Bar, 71, of Larchmont, faces up to 20 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines in his case call for a sentence of 46 to 57 months. He agreed not to appeal a sentence at or below that range. U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel scheduled sentencing for Feb. 18.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New Rochelle doctor pleads guilty to selling oxycodone prescriptions.