CEDAR RAPIDS - A Cresco pharmacist has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court here to charges he defrauded his health insurance company by submitting false prescription claims.

Patrick Slifka, 50, of Decorah, waived indictment and pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in connection with what prosecutors called a scheme to defraud his personal health insurance provider.

At the plea hearing, Slifka admitted he executed a plan to defraud Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield by submitting fraudulent claims against his family insurance coverage for medications that were not prescribed by a licensed health care provider and, in some cases, where no medications were dispensed.

He also admitted he used the name and Drug Enforcement Agency number of an actual physician to facilitate the scheme.

Under the terms of his health care prescription coverage, Slifka was to receive reimbursement payments for medications lawfully prescribed to him.

Sentencing will be later. He was released pending sentencing.

He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in a federal prison and a $250,000 fine, plus three years of supervised probation upon his release on the wire fraud charge.

He also faces a mandatory two-year prison term, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release for the aggravated identify theft charge. That sentence must be served consecutively to any term of imprisonment imposed on the wire fraud charge, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.