SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Andrew Catalone, age 72, of Youngsville, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on April 9, 2026 to unlawfully possessing controlled substances with the intent to distribute them. The announcement was made by First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Farhana Islam, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) SAC Naomi Gruchacz.Catalone was a nurse practitioner who owned a medical practice with offices in Auburn and Fulton, NY.

Catalone regularly prescribed controlled substances to his patients. He also collected from patients drugs that he had prescribed and which they had not used. Catalone was not authorized by federal law to collect these drugs. Catalone then distributed some of those drugs to other patients in the form of loose pills, without a prescription.

Catalone failed to document these encounters in the patients’ medical files or record any treatment rationale for providing the controlled substances. He also failed to check the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing (I-Stop), which is New York State’s prescription monitoring program, and which Catalone was required by state law to consult every time he dispensed a controlled substance. As Catalone knew, each distribution of returned pills was not for a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual course of Catalone’s professional practice.On February 22, 2022, Catalone possessed approximately 32 grams of oxycodone that he had received from patients to whom he had previously prescribed the oxycodone. He stored the oxycodone in his Auburn office.

Catalone intended to distribute at least some of that oxycodone in the same illegitimate manner as described above.Sentencing is scheduled before Judge Anthony Brindisi in Utica, NY on August 18, 2026. If the court accepts the parties’ plea agreement, Catalone will receive a term of imprisonment of 52 months and a 3-year term of supervised release.First Assistant United States Attorney Sarcone stated: “Medical professionals are entrusted with ensuring that dangerous controlled substances, like oxycodone, are distributed in a safe and appropriate manner. Catalone abused that trust and put his patients and the public at risk. Now he will pay the price.”“Health care professionals are not above the law and must be held to the highest standards, especially when dealing with controlled substances,” stated DEA New York Enforcement Division Special Agent in Charge Farhana Islam.

“Andrew Catalone knowingly chose to put profits above the health and well-being of those lives he took an oath to help. His actions are no different from those of any drug trafficker. The DEA remains steadfast to in targeting those fueling an already deadly and highly addictive opioid crisis.”“The defendant in this case, a nurse practitioner, took advantage of his privileges as a medical provider and intentionally diverted controlled substances and ignored the safeguards in place to prevent their flow into the community,” stated SAC HHS-OIG Gruchacz. “HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect essential programs and hold accountable those whose actions could result in potential patient and community harm.”The DEA’s Albany Diversion Group investigated this case.

HHS-OIG, the New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and the Auburn Police Department also assisted with the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Sutcliffe is prosecuting the case.###