Thousands of phony prescriptions passed during yearslong KC area conspiracy

An Independence couple have been charged with illegally distributing oxycodone as part of a large-scale prescription fraud ring.

Court documents filed in the case allege that “several thousand” phony prescriptions may have been passed by members of the ring in the Kansas City area over a period of several years.

Douglas L. Machamer, 48, and Rebecca L. Machamer, 35, were charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City with conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.

The investigation into the case began in 2013 when an area doctor contacted an Independence police detective because a large number of fraudulent prescriptions were being passed in the doctor’s name, according to court documents.

Detectives identified several people involved in passing those prescriptions and also obtained a search warrant for Rebecca Machamer’s cell phone.

Officers subsequently served a search warrant at a house in Kansas City where Rebecca Machamer and several others were taken into custody.

Inside her purse, investigators found prescriptions for oxycodone in the names of numerous other people, blank prescription forms and identification documents in the names of six other people, according to the documents.

As the investigation continued, detectives learned that members of the ring had obtained legitimate prescription forms and stolen identifications to write up prescriptions to use at area pharmacies, primarily for the powerful pain relievers oxycodone or Oxycontin.

Members of the ring attempted to pass fraudulent prescriptions almost every day over a period of several years, according to court documents.

Besides the charges filed Wednesday against Rebecca and Douglas Machamer, 10 other people identified in court documents as being involved in the conspiracy are being prosecuted in a separate case filed last year in federal court. Several have pleaded guilty.

Another man involved in the case was charged separately with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced last year to 13 years in prison, according to court records.