Baldwin pharmacist arrested

The Baldwin pharmacist who, prosecutors say, illegally provided Kayla Gerdes with the drugs she was on when she ran over and killed a Hempstead woman in April 2010 has been arrested by federal authorities.

Prosecutors said Lutful Chowdhury, 61, of Westbury, filled dozens of prescriptions for addictive painkillers even though he knew they were forged and written on stolen prescription pads. He was arrested Thursday morning by Drug Enforcement Administration agents and charged with 14 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted.

Chowdhury is in custody and is set to be arraigned Friday. Calls to his home and pharmacy were not answered.

Nassau prosecutors, who worked with the DEA, said they began looking at Chowdhury shortly after Gerdes' arrest.

Gerdes, now 19, was high on painkillers when she ran over and killed Rebecca Twine, 69, as Twine mowed the front lawn of her home, prosecutors said. Investigators found that Gerdes had received the illegal painkillers by filling forged prescriptions at Chowdhury's pharmacy.