A Maryland man has been sentenced to 65 months in federal prison for leading a scheme that used stolen doctor identities to create fraudulent e-prescribing accounts and generate thousands of illegal prescriptions for controlled substances, federal prosecutors announced.
Benjamin Jamal Washington, 25, of Hyattsville, Maryland, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu. Washington previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Federal authorities said the scheme operated from September 2020 through May 2023, involving Washington and multiple co-conspirators.
During that time, investigators said the group used stolen personal and professional information from licensed physicians to impersonate them and carry out prescription fraud.
According to prosecutors, Washington and his co-conspirators obtained personal identifying information for dozens of licensed medical doctors, including:
Names
Dates of birth
Addresses
Phone numbers
National Provider Identifier numbers
DEA registration numbers
Using that information, the group allegedly opened fraudulent e-prescribing accounts and used them to issue at least 5,600 fraudulent prescriptions.
The prescriptions involved controlled substances such as oxycodone and promethazine with codeine, officials said.
Authorities said the scheme relied on identity-based tactics to bypass security checks. Prosecutors stated that conspirators:
Created counterfeit driver’s licenses
Used corrupt telephone company employees to carry out illegal SIM swaps
SIM swapping allowed the group to take control of a doctor’s phone number and receive authentication codes used during account verification.
Federal officials also said at least one co-conspirator spoke with a pharmacy technician to better understand physician prescribing practices, helping the group make the fake prescriptions appear more believable.
After sending fraudulent prescriptions electronically, Washington and others traveled to pharmacies across the country, including in the Los Angeles area, to pick up the controlled substances.
Prosecutors said the conspirators then resold the drugs for profit, turning the identity theft and prescription fraud into a large-scale illegal operation.
In addition to the prescription fraud case, prosecutors said Washington committed other crimes in May 2022.
Authorities said he stole mail from mailboxes in Bethesda, Maryland, and unlawfully possessed a United States Postal Service arrow key, which can open large numbers of mailboxes. During the theft, officials said Washington stole at least 30 checks.
Washington later pleaded guilty in September 2025 to mail theft and unlawful possession of postal keys.
Another defendant in the case, Micah Robert Lee, 26, of Washington, D.C., has also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Lee is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
Reference:
U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California. “Maryland Man Sentenced to More Than 5 Years in Federal Prison for Leading Scheme in Which Doctors Were Impersonated to Obtain Narcotics.” Justice.gov, January 13, 2026
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/maryland-man-sentenced-more-5-years-federal-prison-leading-scheme-which-doctors-were