Press Release  AG's Office Secures Guilty Plea From Stoughton Man For Prescription Fraud And Illegal Distribution Scheme

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) today announced that Pascal Girault Jr., also known as Pascal Schnaider Girault Jr., age 22, of Stoughton, pled guilty in Norfolk Superior Court to charges associated with a scheme to impersonate physicians to illegally obtain and sell prescription drugs. Girault pled guilty to charges of Medicaid Fraud, Using the Personal Identification of Another, Uttering a False Prescription, Possession of a Class E Substance, and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Class E Substance and was sentenced to three years in state prison on January 30, 2025.  

In September 2023, following a joint investigation by the AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division, Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, and Franklin Police Department, the AGO secured indictments alleging that, from September 2021 to May 2022, Girault routinely called pharmacies within Norfolk, Suffolk, and Middlesex Counties with stolen physician identifications, either posing as a physician or a member of the physician’s staff, to obtain prescriptions for promethazine and promethazine with codeine, which he then sold on the street for profit. The AGO alleged Girault created at least 30 false prescriptions, 11 of which were paid for by MassHealth.

Promethazine is a liquid antihistamine cough syrup with a high street value. When used illicitly, promethazine is commonly combined with various mixers to enhance flavor and the altering effects it gives when taken in large and dangerous quantities. It is often referred to as “drank,” “lean,” or “green.” Promethazine can also be prescribed with codeine, a Schedule III narcotic painkiller, already pre-mixed into the liquid. 

This case was handled by the AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division and the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, with substantial assistance from the Franklin and Stoughton Police Departments.  

The AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division is a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, annually certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and prosecute health care providers who defraud the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth. The Medicaid Fraud Division also has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of residents in long-term care facilities and of Medicaid patients in any health care setting. Individuals may file a MassHealth fraud complaint or report cases of abuse or neglect of Medicaid patients or long-term care residents by visiting the AGO’s website.   

The Massachusetts Medicaid Fraud Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5,922,320 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $1,974,102 for FY 2025, is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

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