A former Altamonte Springs resident stole a pharmacist’s identity, fraudulently obtained a Florida pharmacist license, and worked at businesses throughout the Orlando area, he admitted in federal court.
While he was working at one of those pharmacies under the name Allen Schleicher, Gregory Klonowski gave a customer the incorrect medication, causing the person to suffer a severe reaction and stroke, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Schleicher, which is the fraudulent name Klonowski used to become a pharmacist,was indicted earlier this year in Orlando federal court on more than a dozen charges. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to three of those charges: mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.
The Sentinel is referring to him as Schleicher because that’s the name he went by in Central Florida pharmacies.
Local authorities began investigating Schleicher after a legitimate pharmacist in Arizona, identified in court records only as “A.R.S.,” reported to law-enforcement that his identity had been stolen.
“A.R.S.” first learned in 2007 that someone used his identity in Florida, when the Internal Revenue Service contacted him about undeclared earnings. “A.R.S.” never worked in Florida and learned someone was posing as him and working as a pharmacist under his name, according to court records.
Investigators determined that in 1999, Klonowski, 49,used the alias of “Allen R. Schleicher” when he applied to be a pharmacy intern with the Department of Health.
He provided a false Social Security number, wrongly claimed he had a pharmacy degree and claimed to have workedat hospitals in Arizona and Illinois.
In 2000, the FloridaDepartment of Health issued Schleicher a pharmacist license. That license was renewed in subsequent years.
Federal prosecutors say Klonowski attempted to change his nameto Schleicher in 1991, but his request was dismissed by an Illinois court. In 2004, he again petitioned an Illinois court to legally change his name, and the request was granted.
But even that name change petition was fraudulently obtained, prosecutors say. An FBI agent reviewed the signatures on the paperwork for a witness and notary, and determined they were forged.
Prosecutors say Schleicher worked at pharmacies throughout Central Florida, including CVS/pharmacy and Walgreens.
The Department of Health filed an administrative complaint against Schleicher in 2011, stating it hadreceived a complaint from a physician who treated a patient at Leesburg Regional Medical Center who suffered from an excess of thyroid hormone.
Schleicher gave the patient the incorrect medicine, the Department of Health said.
There is no evidence Schleicher, who purchased a home in Ruskin in 2008, is a licensed pharmacist in any state, the Department of Health said.
The HR is at fault for not doing a BI on this person.