Retired Watertown police officer charged with writing false prescriptions

By Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondent

A former Watertown police officer is expected to appear in federal court this afternoon to face charges that he wrote fraudulent prescriptions using another person’s identity, the US Attorney’s office announced this morning.

Joseph Deignan, 57, of Framingham was arrested this morning and is charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance by fraud and fraud in connection with identification documents, US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz’s office said in a statement.

Deignan, who retired from the Watertown force in February 2012, is alleged to have “used the identity of another person to obtain oxycodone and other controlled substances by forging prescriptions in the other person’s name,” the statement said.

Deignan allegedly stole that person’s drivers license in 2010 while working in his official capacity as traffic superviser for the Watertown Police Department, Ortiz’s office said.

The maximum sentence for the drug-related charge is 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, according to Ortiz’s office.