Area Police Officer Indicted on Prescription, Claim Charges

A Burlington Police Officer has been indicted on charges of falsifying prescriptions and making false disability claims, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced this week.

Mark Driscoll, 38, of Wakefield, was indicted today by a Middlesex Grand Jury on charges of forgery, larceny over $250, attempting to commit larceny, uttering false prescriptions, fraudulently obtaining controlled substances, obtaining a signature under false pretenses, and insurance fraud, a release states. 

Driscoll will be arraigned Oct. 9 at 9 a.m. in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn.

“These are troubling allegations where an officer knowingly passed false prescriptions and made false disability claims to illegally obtain insurance money,” Ryan said.  “It is particularly troubling that the officer chose to wear his police uniform while allegedly committing these crimes.”

According to authorities, Driscoll, a Burlington Police Officer since July 2004, went to a CVS Pharmacy in Burlington on July 10, 2013 seeking to obtain Percocet pills.  The defendant, in his police uniform, attempted to fill a prescription in his wife’s name purportedly written by a physician’s assistant in Cambridge.  The on-duty pharmacist noted that the prescription did not meet new security features that went into effect on July 1, 2013, and told the officer it could not be filled until it could be verified by the doctor the next morning.  The pharmacist contacted the orthopedic practice on July 11, 2013 to verify the prescription and a doctor from the practice confirmed it was not valid.

According to the release, Burlington Police were notified and an investigation was launched.  Based on the investigation, officials allege that Driscoll had presented five fraudulent prescriptions to CVS pharmacy between May and July of 2013.  It is alleged that Driscoll received more than 260 Percocet tablets through these false prescriptions.

Further, with the assistance of the Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring Program, officials learned that Driscoll also passed false prescriptions for pain medication at an Osco Pharmacy located in a Burlington supermarket.  There, he allegedly filled four prescriptions, including several refills, between May and July, receiving hundreds of pills of various pain medications.  In all but one instance, Driscoll dropped off and picked up medications while in his police uniform.

On July 12, Driscoll was placed on administrative leave by the Burlington Police Department.

On July 25, Burlington Police were notified that the defendant had submitted paperwork to an insurance company for payment through a disability policy.  A review of the documents revealed that the defendant submitted a letter with a forged signature from a member of the department’s administrative staff.  A further investigation revealed that the defendant had submitted eight prior claims to the disability insurance provider since 2006.  While he was working as a police officer, the defendant allegedly received disability payments, collecting tens of thousands in fraudulent benefits.

These charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Burlington Police, the Unum Group, and the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts. The prosecutors assigned to the case are Assistant District Attorney Elisha Willis and Kristen Noto.