GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – A federal judge on Thursday sentenced an Appleton advanced practice nurse practitioner to 16 months in prison for illegally prescribing opioids and supplying pills for her own use and sale, court officials said.
Jessica Friday, who pleaded guilty on Aug. 13, 2025, to one count of distribution of controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, was sentenced Dec. 18 by U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller. She also received three years of supervised release after completing her prison term.
According to court records, between 2020 and 2024, Friday wrote prescriptions for opioids including oxycodone without any demonstration of medical need. Prosecutors say she entered arrangements with patients under which they filled those prescriptions and surrendered half or more of the pills to Friday for her personal use. The records say Friday was aware many patients did not need the drugs, were vulnerable because of mental health issues or addiction, and were selling at least some of the pills they kept.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Stadtmueller cited Friday’s “serious abuse of a position of trust,” the “staggering” number of prescriptions issued without medical need, and the need to deter other medical professionals from similar conduct.
U.S. Attorney Brad D. Schimel said Friday “fueled and supplied her own addiction” and “simply became another drug dealer — another source of supply for putting highly addictive substances in the hands of others for no medical purpose.” John McGarry, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Milwaukee District Office, said medical practitioners who illegally dispense controlled substances “put lives at risk and undermine the integrity of the entire medical system,” and vowed continued enforcement against such conduct.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Diversion Control Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie F. Stewart.
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