FREEHOLD -- A grand jury has indicted a physician assistant from Ocean County on charges he prescribed medication when he wasn't licensed to do so.
The indictment, handed up by a grand jury in Monmouth County on Thursday, charges Frank Campione, 47, of Brick, with unlawful practice of medicine.
The indictment says he prescribed prescription medication or controlled dangerous substances between September 2011 and Feb. 18, 2016, without having a license or permit to practice medicine.
He was arrested Feb. 19, 2016, after a four-month investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, which accused him of meeting people in public places to sell them prescriptions for opiates and other controlled dangerous substances, including oxycodone and Xanax.
He is accused of prescribing medication in Asbury Park, Avon-by-the-Sea, Bradley Beach, Keansburg, Long Branch, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Oceanport, Wall Township, and West Long Branch in Monmouth County, the indictment says.
Campione is also accused of prescribing medication in Brick, Point Pleasant Borough and Toms River in Ocean County, according to the indictment.
He was initially charged with one count each of unlawful practice of medicine, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and conspiracy to obtain a controlled dangerous substance by fraud covering a year of alleged activity between January 2015 and January 2016.
The offense charged in the indictment is a third-degree crime, which carries of penalty of up to five years in prison if convicted.
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