A Lehigh County doctor, who practiced in Carbon County, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the county court to his part in a prescription painkiller scheme, which resulted in more than 10,000 oxycodone pills being distributed in a multiple county area. The street value of the pills distributed is estimated at over $300,000.

Dr. John R. Manzella, 48, of Salisbury Township, pleaded to one count each of administration of a controlled substance by a practitioner and acquisition or obtaining possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation before Judge Steven R. Serfass. He was originally charged with 99 criminal counts.In a plea bargain with the state Attorney General's office, all the other charges were dropped. The charges he pleaded to are both felonies. All 99 counts were felonies.Serfass told Manzella that under state sentencing guidelines he faces a minimum prison term of somewhere between 22 to 36 months. That would put him in a state correctional institution.Manzella was charged on July 23, 2013, by agents of the narcotics bureau of investigations of the AG's office.According to deputy Attorney General Christie F. Bonesch, the incidents occurredbetween January 2011 and October 2012.The charges against Manzella stem from a case against Robert J. Kosch of Newark, New Jersey, who was charged in June 2013 with using fraudulent prescriptions to obtain 17,740 oxycodone pills from three Carbon County pharmacies in 2011 and 2012.Manzella helped Kosch by creating fictitious patients for whom the drugs were "prescribed," according to an affidavit of probable cause in the Kosch case.According to the Kosch affidavit, filed June 26, 2013, with District Judge Carl Balliet of Allentown, detectives in Sussex County, New Jersey, found text messages between Kosch and Manzella that "show a conspiracy involving fraudulent prescriptions between Kosch and Dr. Manzella."In the affidavit, it was noted that "numerous" oxycodone prescriptions from Manzella filled in Bucks, Carbon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton and Schuylkill counties. Pharmacies in those counties verified several of the prescriptions with Manzella, and "more importantly, many of these names were found on Kosch's notepad."In May 2013, Agent Jose Collazo of the AG office executed three search warrants on Manzella's offices. His Carbon office was located in Jim Thorpe. Of the 35 patient files sought by the warrant, only nine existed, even though physicians are required to maintain records of controlled substances they prescribe.State narcotics agent Brian Rimple, assisting Collazo, then visited Northeast Pharmacy in Lehighton. Although the pharmacy fills prescriptions for nursing homes and other institutions and does not do business with the public, the manager told Rimple she had spoken with Manzella, who asked her to fill oxycodone prescriptions for a John Houle, a Fred Sacco and Robert Kosch as personal favors to Manzella.Rimple showed her a picture of Kosch, and she verified it was he who had picked up the oxycodone.According to the government's Prescription Monitoring Program database, between Feb. 7, 2011, and May 7, 2012, Northeast Pharmacy dispensed about 10,230 oxycodone pills in the names of Houle, Sacco and Kosch. No patient file was found for Sacco, and although one existed for Houle. Manzella had not seen him as a patient since 2010.Later in May, Collazo visited the Mauch Chunk Pharmacy in Jim Thorpe, where the pharmacist recognized Kosch as a customer who claimed to be "John Molina," and to whom the pharmacy dispensed 3,600 oxycodone pills between January 2011 and July 2012, all prescribed by Manzella.Manzella did not have a patient file for "John Molina," who apparently does not exist, according to the affidavit.On June 4, 2013, Collazo went to Walter's Pharmacy in Allentown, where the pharmacist said she had a customer who claimed to be "Thomas Lembo," and for whom she had filled numerous oxycodone prescriptions written by Manzella.The pharmacist said that on Oct. 4, 2012, she had spoken with Manzella by phone because "Lembo had arrived early to pick up his pills. She emailed a photo of 'Lembo' to Manzella, who told her the man was a contractor who had done some work in his office and had apparently taken a prescription pad. Manzella told the pharmacist not to fill any more prescriptions for 'Lembo.' "She also showed Collazo the photo, and the agent recognized the man as Kosch. Manzella had no patient file for "Thomas Lembo," for whom Walter's Pharmacy had dispensed 2,910 oxycodone pills between May 2011 and October 2012.According to the affidavit, "Robert Kosch and Dr. John Manzella conspired to unlawfully obtain oxycodone through misrepresentation and fraud. Over a 22-month period, a total of 13,000 pills were dispensed by (the three pharmacies) to Robert Kosch, for an approximate value in excess of $400,000."The pills were obtained, Collazo wrote, "with intent to deliver to another/others."The case took a long time coming into court as there were 17 continuances filed in the matter.Serfass deferred sentencing and ordered the adult probation office to prepare a presentence investigation report.Reporter Chris Parker contributed to this story.