2 admit to roles in Fayette County pain pill scheme

June 19--Two people accused of conspiring with a Uniontown podiatrist in an alleged prescription pain pill scheme admitted their involvement in court Thursday.

Scott E. Bloom, 43, of Hibbs, and Deven L. Saghy, 46, of Menallen, pleaded guilty to insurance fraud, acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation and conspiracy.

Bloom and Saghy were being treated by Dr. William Ainsley, 39, of North Union, who investigators allege routinely conspired with patients by prescribing them thousands of hydrocodone tablets and receiving up to half the tablets in return.

Ainsley previously testified in court about his addiction to the painkillers.

"He gave me a prescription for hydrocodone and he asked me if he could have some of them," Saghy told Judge John Wagner Thursday.

Saghy said she did as Ainsley asked and kept the rest of the pills for herself but never took them.

"Did Dr. Ainsley encourage you to get the prescriptions filled?" Wagner asked.

"Yes," she said.

"And you did that on multiple occasions with Dr. Ainsley?" the judge asked.

"Yes, sir," Saghy responded.

Bloom, who said he had been a patient of Ainsley's for about five years, told the judge about a similar interaction with the podiatrist. Bloom said he gave Ainsley about 15 pills and "thought nothing of it."

"A while back I gave him some pills of mine," Bloom told Wagner, adding that Ainsley requested the medication because he was "not feeling well."

Wagner set sentencing for Bloom and Saghy on July 30.

Ainsley, Bloom, Saghy and four others are charged in the scheme.

Deputy Attorney General Dennis Kistler said prosecutors will ask for continued cooperation by Bloom and Saghy in the case against Ainsley, who testified against one of his co-defendants in April during a preliminary hearing.

Between January 2009 and April 2014, Ainsley received about 2,500 painkiller tablets at his office from a Connecticut medical company, the majority of which were for his personal use, according to court paperwork.

He prescribed more than 17,000 painkiller pills to his six alleged co-conspirators between January 2012 and August 2014, according to the investigators, who said Ainsley received up to half the pills in return.

Ainsley is charged with insurance fraud, acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, conspiracy and unlawful prescription of a controlled substance by a medical professional.

Pretrial conferences are set in October for Ainsley and co-defendants Palmer Frank Sabatine, 42, of South Union; Robert C. Woleslagle, 56, of Uniontown; and Carl E. Santavicca, 62, of Uniontown, according to court records.

Randell Keith Rice Jr., 28, of Uniontown, did not show up for a scheduled plea hearing Thursday. Kistler asked Wagner to hold off on issuing a bench warrant for a week while he attempts to make contact with Rice.

Woleslagle, Rice and Santavicca are charged with acquisition by misrepresentation, conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver. Sabatine is charged with insurance fraud, acquisition by misrepresentation and possession with intent to deliver.

Renatta Signorini is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-837-5374 or rsignorini@tribweb.com.

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