Russell Barber, Woodmere dentist, pleads guilty to drug charges

The Nassau County D.A.'s office issued the following statement late Friday afternoon regarding the guilty plea made by a Five Towns dentist, Russell Barber:

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that Woodmere dentist Russell Barber, 54, has pleaded guilty to drug-related charges after writing out and filling fraudulent prescriptions for painkillers. The plea requires Barber, who was addicted to prescription painkillers, to successfully complete an 18-month intensive drug rehabilitation program that is supervised by the court.

The defendant was able to choose to enter a drug treatment “diversion program” due to a 2009 change to the State’s Rockefeller Drug Laws which now allows the court to assign non-violent offenders to treatment, rather than jail time. Judges have total authority when choosing to divert non-violent addicts to treatment. The District’s Attorney’s office has no say in the process.

Barber pleaded guilty to four counts of Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance and one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree. In addition, Barber surrendered his license to practice dentistry.

Rice said that for the past three years, the District Attorney’s Office and the Nassau County Police Department have been investigating Barber for filling out prescriptions for painkillers in names other than his own, and then filling the prescriptions himself, often at Pen-Mill Pharmacy in Hewlett.

Rice said that Barber continued to treat patients despite his prescription painkiller addiction. A search warrant executed at Barber’s office revealed empty pill bottles in the office where he treated patients. The investigation into Barber began as a spin-off of an investigation into the illegal sale of drugs at Pen-Mill Pharmacy. In that case, pharmacist and owner Robert Rochford pleaded guilty to forgery and drug charges.

“It is fitting that he lose his professional license,” Rice said. “Dr. Barber abused his position and betrayed the trust of his patients and the community.”

Handling the case for the DA’s Office is ADA Jane Zwirn-Turkin of the DA’s Rackets Bureau. Barber is being represented by George Sheinberg, Esq.