Cumberland County doctor sentenced for writing illegal prescriptions

Jennifer Wentz//November 15, 2016

Joseph T. Acri, 59, of Camp Hill pleaded guilty in September to illegally administering the prescriptions and received his sentence in Cumberland County court Nov. 8. He must serve three to 23 months in prison and two years of probation, according to court documents.

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General filed the charges against Acri in January after a grand jury investigation.

Investigators discovered Acri had prescribed thousands of tablets of the opiate painkiller OxyContin and its generic form, oxycodone, to four people between 2011 and 2014, according to an affidavit filed with District Judge Kathryn H. Silcox.

He wrote the prescriptions using a pad from a medical center with which he was no longer affiliated, the affidavit states.

Acri must report to Cumberland County Prison on Nov. 28, according to court documents. He is authorized for work release.

His attorney, Barbara Zemlock of Harrisburg-based Perry Shore Weisenberger & Zemlock, declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday.

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