WEBER COUNTY, Utah – A woman from Roy is facing numerous felony charges after she allegedly obtained thousands of prescription pain pills by filing hundreds of fraudulent prescriptions under multiple names, and the alleged crimes cost her insurance company more than $25,000 over the 8-year period.
According to a charging documents filed January 19, Lori Hoskins, 37, is charged with three counts of a fraudulent insurance act as second-degree felonies, three counts of identity fraud as second-degree felonies, and three misdemeanor counts relating to controlled substances.
Things began when a relative of Hoskins seeking treatment from a doctor learned the DOPL controlled substance database indicated the relative was receiving about 220 Oxycodone pills each month, while that relative was not aware of any prescriptions for those pills.
Police investigated and eventually learned Hoskins had allegedly stolen a computer password from a doctor and was using that, along with some prescription software, to create fraudulent prescriptions for pain meds under her name and the names of two other family members. Hoskins would then pick the prescriptions up herself to keep those family members in the dark about what she was doing.
The doctor in question said some of those prescriptions were returned to him, as they were unsigned when brought to the pharmacy, and he said he had signed some without reviewing them, believing them to be legitimate. However, upon review of the records, he said several red flags, like a lack of appointments, clinical notes or unusual pill totals, made it clear they weren’t valid prescriptions.
As police continued to investigate, Hoskins apparently confessed to one of those family members, asking her to help her conceal the crime and claiming she had committed the fraud to help get pills for another family member who was in pain but couldn’t have prescriptions for work reasons.
Hoskins ultimately confessed to the fraudulent activity, which occurred from 2007 to 2015. She claimed she took the meds herself for back pain and did not give them out or sell them to anyone, except for a family member who she claimed was in pain and needed them. That family member was unaware his and his other relative’s names were being fraudulently used by Hoskins, police stated.
All told, Hoskins filled a total of 169 prescriptions for various pills under her own name, with the total pill count surpassing 24,000. She allegedly filled another 188 prescriptions under a family member’s name for more than 23,000 pills. A third relative’s name was used for 54 prescriptions amounting to just over 8,000 pills.
The total fraudulent cost to the insurance company that paid for some of those pills is just over $25,000, according to charging documents.
