Federal prosecutors say a New Jersey woman has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for her role in a scheme to steal more than $7 million worth of prescription drugs for low-income AIDS and cancer patients.
The 70-month sentence imposed Monday also calls for Lateefah McKenzie Body to serve three years of supervised release once she's freed from prison.
The 35-year-old Linden resident was found guilty last August of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and nine counts of mail fraud following a two-week trial.
Two other women charged in the case pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Prosecutors have said the three stole from the charity by using their access to a Massachusetts company hired to administer the program. They were accused of entering hundreds of fraudulent computer orders so that medicines that could be resold at a profit.
The drugs came from an Illinois-based pharmaceutical company that formed a foundation to distribute the drugs at no cost to people who qualified based on their income.
According to court documents, McKenzie Body and another defendant created fraudulent computer orders listing addresses for the drugs to be sent that were part of the scheme. Authorities estimated about 1,600 drug orders were entered in this fashion.
