Former Great Neck doctor Roya Jafari-Hassad gets seven years in prison for running oxycodone pill mill out of her office

A Long Island federal judge sentenced a former Great Neck doctor on Monday to 7 years in prison for running a pill mill out of her office, doling out hundreds of highly addictive painkillers for thousands in cash over 3 ½ years.

A Central Islip jury in December 2024 found Roya Jafari-Hassad, 60, guilty on eight counts of prescribing the powerful opioid oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose. In April 2025, she pleaded guilty to health care fraud.

Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that showed Jafari-Hassad prescribed hundreds of the pills to patients that she had either never seen or spent very little time examining. She charged between $350 and $700 for either a 15-day or a 30-day supply of the painkiller.

"The defendant knowingly violated the narcotics laws and became a mere drug dealer in a white coat," federal prosecutor Charles Kelly wrote in his sentencing memorandum.

Undercover DEA agent Matthew Sedler used the phone of Frank Peragrine, a patient of Jafari-Hassad who died of a fentanyl overdose, to text the doctor for more drugs.

District Court Judge Gary Brown said that Jafari-Hassad was not responsible for Peragrine’s death, one of two of the doctor’s patients who died.

"It’s only through sheer luck that one of your patients didn’t die as a result of your practices," the judge said. "If they had, we would not be talking about years [in prison], but decades," he said.

The judge ordered the doctor to pay $152,765 in restitution for fraudulently billing public and private medical insurance companies for services she didn’t perform and $150,000 in penalties.

Jafari-Hassad objected in her presentence report to being characterized as a drug dealer by federal authorities, but prosecutors said that several addicts testified that she instructed them how to act like patients and warned them not to discuss oxycodone during visits.

The doctor instructed the patients to mask the real reason for their appointments by using the code word "biofeedback" to mean the painkiller.

One witness, Brandon Sohn, a heroin addict, testified that he sold the pills prescribed by the doctor to get money to buy heroin. He told the court that he had heroin in his system when he visited Jafari-Hassad, but she either never tested his urine or ignored the testing results.

The doctor "kept the oxycodone prescriptions flowing to her patients, regardless of any urine test results, as long as she got paid," prosecutors said.

Jafari-Hassad’s lawyer Matin Emouna said that his client had sold her primary residence and would pay the restitution immediately.

"Defendant is a multi-millionaire and the proposed fine, together with the $152,000 restitution, will not have a substantial impact on her net worth," the prosecutors noted.

Jafari-Hassad, who immigrated to the United States from Iran at a young age, wept as she told the court "I accept full responsibility for my conduct. I don’t blame anyone but myself."

"I lost my reputation, my career and my respect," she said. "And they were very important to me. I will carry this for the rest of my life."

She said that she had dedicated her entire life to her practice.

"Somewhere along the way, under tremendous stress and exhaustion, I thought I was in control, but I lost it," she said. "I totally ignored my physical and mental health. I hoped my friends and family would see me as a hero, but in reality I was burnt out and I needed to be saved."

Frank Peragrine’s sister, Christina Peragrine, who wore a T-shirt dedicated to her brother, said she feels grateful that her brother’s final act was helping to put the doctor in prison.

"She wasn't charged for Frankie's murder, but without his death, she wouldn't she'd be on the street. She would still be selling her pills," she said.