Illinois Pharmacist Sentenced to 7 Years for Identity Theft, Insurance Fraud

An Illinois pharmacist has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for stealing customers’ identities to make fake prescriptions and collect money from insurance companies.

Federal prosecutors say 76-year-old Ronald Kielar of Mundelein collected more than $1.7 million by submitting more than 600 faked claims over several years. He was convicted at trial last fall.

Kielar worked at a Chicago pharmacy owned by his ex-wife. Prosecutors say he used money from the fraud scheme to pay mortgages on a home in Illinois and properties in Florida and Arizona.

U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow Jr. handed down the sentence. The judge also ordered Kielar to pay more than $1.7 million in restitution and to forfeit nearly $78,000 from the sale of property he owned in Florida.