The Suffolk County, N.Y. District Attorney’s Office says that a couple who was on the reality show Below Deck has been charged with using the names of other cast members to fill out drug scripts.
The DA’s office says Francis Martinis, 55, a urologist, and his 38-year-old wife Jessica were charged on Thursday with four counts of illegal sale of a prescription for a controlled drug by a practitioner and four counts of falsifying business records.
The married couple was on the popular Bravo show and are now being accused of getting prescription drugs in the names of other cast members.
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The police say they learned about the plan in January when Jessica is said to have gone to a store on Long Island and tried to fill an oxycodone prescription that Francis had written by hand.
The prescription, however, did not have Jessica’s name on it, so it was not filled, according to the police. The drug store owner called the Suffolk County Police Department instead.
After looking into it more, the police say Francis sent several prescriptions online to pharmacies across Long Island. These prescriptions had the names of different past cast members of Below Deck on them, even though none of them lived on Long Island.
The authorities say that Jessica would pick up the medicines and pay for them in cash after Francis sent them.
“Doctors are supposed to be trusted members of the community, and that trust comes with a tremendous amount of personal and professional responsibility,” said District Attorney Raymond Tierney in a statement. “Physicians are held to a high standard because, when they begin their careers, they take an oath to uphold several professional ethical standards.” The alleged conduct of Dr. Martinis with his wife not only breached this pledge, but it also violated the law.”
Prosecutors claim that when Jessica was arrested, she told officers, “We didn’t sell any prescriptions, it was all for us.” There was no escape.”
The married couple’s attorney informed NBC News that their clients pled not guilty and that the claims were “bogus and cannot be substantiated.”
Prosecutors said Francis and Jessica are expected back in court on January 25 and have been placed on supervised release by a judge.
References: people.com