Carbon County woman admits selling diet pills to nurses

She faces up to five years in prison on each of three charges.

A Carbon County woman on Friday pleaded guilty to selling diet pills from a Bethlehem doctor's prescriptions to four Palmerton Hospital nurses in the largest prescription drug ring in the history of the area.

Prudence Greenawalt, 46, of Hahns Dairy Road, Lower Towamensing Township, pleaded guilty to charges of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, possession with intent to deliver drugs and criminal conspiracy.

County President Judge Richard Webb set sentencing for January. Greenawalt faces up to five years on each charge, said her attorney, Gregorio Paglianiti of Allentown.

She also could be fined $15,000 on each count and faces seizure of her home and about $125,000 seized by narcotics agents in the investigation, Senior Deputy Attorney General Andrew E. Demerest said.

According to an arrest affidavit, Greenawalt got prescriptions for up to 500 diet pills per visit from the central figure in the case, Dr. William Delp, 71, whom authorities dubbed ''The Candy Man.''

A grand jury indictment said Delp wrote prescriptions for thousands of pills, including the painkiller OxyContin and the diet drug Phentermine, both of which were found in Greenawalt's house, Demerest said. Delp, an osteopathic physician, gave up his license to practice medicine after his arrest.

Authorities said pills bought by Greenawalt and Sharon Fronheiser, 45, of Palmerton ended up in the hands of Palmerton Hospital nurses Lori Kleppinger Suchon, 44, Lucille Flugger, 44, Laura Smith, 42, and Kim Steigerwalt, 42.

Suchon quit the hospital before her arrest, and the others were suspended after being charged.

In March, Suchon was placed on accelerated rehabilitative disposition, a probation-without-a-verdict program, for 18 months. If she completes probation, possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy charges against her will be dismissed.

Flugger, Steigerwalt and Smith also were placed on ARD in March.

Also charged was pharmacist Jay Ambrose, 41, of Lower Nazareth Township, who allegedly billed for drugs prescribed by Delp that never were delivered to the patient.

Ambrose, who worked at the Rite-Aid Pharmacy on E. Third St. in Bethlehem, was charged with insurance fraud and has been fired.

Janice Hawk, 47, of Bethlehem Township, and James Miller, 50, of Freemansburg, were charged with participating in a corrupt organization, illegally possessing prescription drugs and criminal conspiracy.