Fox Valley Nurse Practitioner Sentenced to Federal Prison for Unlawful Prescribing

Brad D. Schimel, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on December 18, 2025, United States District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller sentenced Jessica Friday, an Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner from Appleton, Wisconsin, to 16 months’ imprisonment.

On August 13, 2025, Friday pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate purpose. The charges stem from Friday’s unlawful prescribing between 2020 and 2024. According to court records, during that period, Friday issued prescriptions for opioids, including Oxycodone, without a demonstration of medical necessity. Friday issued these prescriptions based on an arrangement with her patients whereby the patients agreed to fill the unlawful prescriptions and provide half, or more, of the pills to Friday for her personal use.

Friday was aware, while she was engaging this conduct, that the people to whom she was prescribing did not need the opiates, that they were vulnerable for reasons of their mental health and addiction, and that they were selling at least some of the pills they retained from Friday’s unlawful prescriptions.

In announcing his sentence, Judge Stadtmueller noted Friday’s serious abuse of a position of a trust, the “staggering” volume of prescriptions Friday issued without medical need, and the need to promote deterrence among medical professionals who may be tempted to engage in similar unlawful prescribing practices.

“Rather than providing legitimate care as a medical professional, this defendant fueled and supplied her own addiction,” said U.S. Attorney Schimel. “In the process, she simply became another drug dealer – another source of supply for putting highly addictive substances in the hands of others for no medical purpose. My office remains committed to working with DEA and all of our law enforcement partners to combat this epidemic.”

“Medical professionals are entrusted with extraordinary authority to heal, not to harm,” said John McGarry, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Milwaukee District Office. “When they abuse that trust by illegally dispensing controlled substances, they put lives at risk and undermine the integrity of the entire medical system. DEA will continue to hold accountable any practitioner who chooses profit or convenience over patient safety and the law.”

Upon completion of her 16- month prison sentence, Friday will serve a three-year term of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration – Diversion Control Division. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Julie F. Stewart.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.