Doctor Sentenced For Prescription Fraud

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – A Washington state doctor has been sentenced to four years in prison for a scheme in which she hired drug addicts and gave them blank prescription scripts for opioid pain medications and other controlled substances.

Federal prosecutors say Dr. Janet Arnold owned Desert Wind Family Practice in Richland, Washington.

Prosecutors said Arnold and her co-conspirators pushed thousands of pills on the street to be abused by addicts, and potentially caused others to become addicted to controlled substances.

The 63-year-old Arnold is the third of five defendants to be sentenced in the case.

David Nay of Kennewick, Washington,  was sentenced to 78 months in prison.

Lisa Marie Cooper, of Prosser, Washington, was sentenced to two years in prison.