A prescription forgery ring that pumped $3 million worth of painkillers onto the black market was busted Monday, the office of the city Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan announced.

Joseph Bivona, 45, Steven Keller, 53, and five other people were arrested in the alleged scheme that began in 2011 and spanned five years, officials said.

Bivona and Keller hired runners to fill forged oxycodone prescriptions, which bore the name of a doctor who operates a pain-management clinic in Astoria, Queens, the office said.

The runners filled more than 930 prescriptions at pharmacies in Brooklyn and Queens, dumping more than 160,000 pills onto the black market, authorities said.

Bivona and Keller face a top charge of operating as a major trafficker.

If convicted at trial, they could face life in prison.

All seven defendants face charges of conspiracy, possession of a forged instrument and possession of a controlled substance, authorities said.