Crime & Safety
Jury Finds Fake City Avenue Psychiatrist Guilty of Medicating Kids
Jo Benoit, 77, faces at least three years in prison.
A King of Prussia woman fraudulently operated a City Avenue mental-health clinic for three years, stealing psychiatrists' identities and forging prescriptions to medicate patients as young as 4 years old, a federal jury found Monday.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Philadelphia office announced Tuesday that Jo Benoit, 77, has been convicted of 76 counts of health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, distribution of controlled substances, and distribution of controlled substances to minors.
The clinic, Transition Phase III, operated on the Philadelphia side of City Avenue at Presidential Boulevard from 2008 to July 2011, when it closed after a search warrant was executed, according to the FBI.
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Benoit faces a minimum term of three years in prison, and potentially more than eight, at her sentencing scheduled for Sept. 19, according to the FBI.
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