Veteran Philly Journalist A.D. Amorosi Pleads Guilty in Massive Medicare Fraud Scheme

Left: Philadelphia journalist A.D. Amorosi, who just pleaded guilty in a pharmacy fraud scheme. (Photo courtesy A.D. Amorosi.) Right: The South Philadelphia pharmacy that was at the center of the scheme. (Image via Google Maps)

If you’ve been a regular reader of Philadelphia media outlets over the last few decades, you’ve probably encountered a story written by A.D. Amorosi. The longtime Philly scribe has contributed to the Inquirer, City Paper, Metro, and, yes, Philly Mag over the years. But now he finds himself the subject of news instead of the writer of it. Amorosi, whose full name is Angelo Amorosi, just pleaded guilty to his role in a massive fraud scheme surrounding South Philadelphia’s Broad Street Family Pharmacy, which has been shuttered ever since law enforcement agents raided it in 2021.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced charges against Amorosi and eight other Pennsylvania residents last December. The others charged included pharmacy owner Elizabeth Thompson, her husband Peter Dello Buono (who ran the pharmacy), and pharmacist Frank Bengermino.

According to the AG’s office, the scheme amounted to a $20 million fraud against Medicaid and Medicare. It involved fraudulent claims to those government programs for pricey medications and prescriptions for those medications that were never actually filled, and cash kickbacks to customers for bringing their prescriptions to the pharmacy. The pharmacy was also paying customers with cash and other pills to sell back expensive medications they did receive.

“The owner and operator of this pharmacy were essentially pretending to fill prescriptions for expensive medications, while defrauding the Medicaid and Medicare programs of millions of dollars with a sophisticated scheme involving nearly a dozen co-conspirators,” the AG said in a statement. “The alleged crimes involved here diverted funding from Pennsylvanians in need into the pockets of the defendants.”

A.D. Amorosi and pharmacy operator Peter Dello Buono in 2017 (photo courtesy HughE Dillon/PhillyChitChat)

And one of those co-conspirators was Amorosi. Police arrested him on December 13th, and he was released one day later on a $100,000 unsecured bail. The original charges against him included seven felony counts, including dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities and conspiracy. And on Wednesday, as part of a negotiated deal, he pleaded guilty to one count each of those crimes. A judge sentenced him to three years of probation, which includes a clause that he is not allowed to travel outside of Philadelphia without permission from his probation officer.

As for some of the other defendants, Dello Buono pleaded guilty to some of the charges against him and was sentenced to two to five years in state prison, while his wife received a sentence of four years probation after pleading guilty to some of the charges against her. The case against the pharmacist, Bengermino, remains open.

Amorosi declined to comment.