‘Star’-roid doc
Sold doping drugs with ‘movie’ hunk pitch: cops
A PHYSICIAN who specializes in HIV treatment illegally peddled steroid prescriptions — and action-figure physiques — out of his Murray Hill office, federal prosecutors charge.
Dr. Joseph Olivieri was busted after a sting operation involving an undercover NYPD officer who paid him cash for a prescription for a muscle-building drug, according to a criminal complaint.
After handing the prescription to the officer, Olivieri boasted to the officer that “in three or four months, you’ll be like a movie star,” the complaint says.
Olivieri and his assistant, Shakuntala Mahadeo, were arrested last month as part of the NYPD Criminal Enterprise Investigations Unit’s ongoing probe into doctor’s handing out medically unnecessary steroid prescriptions to patients.
His indictment was unsealed Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court. It accuses him of conspiring to distribute controlled substances.
The undercover officer got an appointment with Olivieri in 2016 by saying he was HIV-positive. But at the appointment, the officer told Olivieri he wasn’t HIV-positive and only wanted to get a steroid prescription.
Olivieri first instructed the officer to get a blood test, according to the complaint. He then directed Mahadeo to help the officer, telling her that he “was very nice” and “he’s not pulling anything on us.” She then gave the officer a rundown about the cash payments for the bogus prescription, according to the complaint.
After getting the blood test, the officer returned for another appointment, in which the doctor gave him the actual prescription and Mahadeo directed him to a Manhattan pharmacy, the complaint says.
Olivieri and Mahadeo are accused of pocketing hundreds of dollars in cash from the undercover. The indictment against Olivieri says he conspired to distribute controlled substances.
He was released on $125,000 bond after his April 12 arrest. The judge barred him from prescribing drugs. However, his lawyer has asked the judge to modify the restriction so it only prohibits him from prescribing controlled substances.
Olivieri is due in court Thursday.