New Castle-area doctor pleads guilty to dealing fentanyl in Western Pa., Ohio

A Lawrence County doctor pleaded guilty to illegally prescribing and doling out fentanyl and other opioid painkillers while practicing at clinics in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio, federal prosecutors said .

Dr. Thomas A. Ranieri, 66, took a plea deal in exchange for dropping 10 of the 24 counts filed against him by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh nearly two years ago.

He was convicted this week of 14 counts, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said.

For each count, Ranieri faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $1 million.

The anesthesiologist from Neshannock Township, who’s been practicing medicine for more than 20 years, will wait have to nearly five more months to be sentenced for the pharmaceutical drug-dealing operation.

Prosecutors say the scheme lasted at least six months.

The anesthesiologist, who has more than 20 years of medical experience, was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2017 while affiliated with a pain clinic near New Castle on Wilmington Road and several other clinics in Ohio.

Prescribing ‘without a legitimate medical purpose’

From January to June 2013, Ranieri wrote prescriptions for and distributed doses of Scheduled II controlled substances including oxycodone, Opana ER and fentanyl “outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose,” according to Brady.

Oxycodone is an opioid painkiller in pill form used to treat moderate to severe pain. It has a high potential for addiction and can lead to a fatal overdose, especially when combined with other drugs or alcohol.

Opana ER, or oxymorphone, is an opoid painkiller flagged by the FDA for high risk for dependency and abuse.

The Drug Enforcement Administration describes fentanyl as a synthetic opioid that is 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine. Its primary pharmaceutical purpose was to treat cancer patients via a patch placed on the skin.

As little as 2 or 3 nanograms of fentanyl per milliliter of blood can be deadly.

Brady’s office did not elaborate on the amounts of drugs that Ranieri prescribed or distributed illegally nor say how many people were involved in obtaining and purchasing them.

The FBI, Department of Health and Human Services, IRS and Medicare fraud control section of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office collaborated in the investigation that led to the indictment against Ranieri.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Stephanie L. Haines and Colin J. Callahan prosecuted the case.

U.S. District Judge David Cercone scheduled a sentencing hearing for Jan. 14.