Published: December 08, 2005 11:43 pm         

Woman faces prescription fraud charge

By Cass Rains

Staff Writer



A woman who faces up to two years to life in prison surrendered herself Thursday in Garfield County District Court.

Connie Sue Adkins, 53, was charged with attempting to obtain a controlled dangerous substance by fraud for allegedly changing the amount of medication on a prescription she was trying to have filled, the charge alleges.

Adkins, who had four aliases listed on court documents, said she was notified by mail to appear Thursday. The felony charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, but a former felony conviction increases the penalty to two years to life in prison.

According to court documents, Adkins was convicted of felony driving under the influence of alcohol in Logan County Court in January 2001. The felony DUI conviction was a subsequent felony conviction, court documents show.

On Oct. 31, police received a call of fraud from a Wal-Mart pharmacist, who said upon inspection of a prescription he had received from Adkins he believed it had been altered to say 140 Loratab 5, not 40 Loratab 5, according to an affidavit.

The pharmacist said he contacted the office of the doctor who wrote the prescription and verified the prescription had been altered.

The doctor’s office did not initially want to file charges, the pharmacist said, but later said they had discovered Adkins changed prescriptions at Walgreens and Evans Phar-macy, the affidavit states. The Wal-Mart pharmacist did not fill the prescription and told Adkins she would need to contact the doctor’s office.

Police contacted Adkins’ doctor, who verified he had only written the prescription for 40 Loratab. The doctor’s office provided police with copies of three prescriptions written on Oct. 31, Oct. 20 and Oct. 10, all for 40 Loratab.

Police contacted Walgreens and received a copy of the prescription Adkins had filled there, the affidavit states. Records show Adkins received 140 Loratab, and the handwritten prescription read 140 Lora-tab, which did not match the copy received from the doctor’s office.

The same scenario was true at Evans Pharmacy, with a prescription dated Oct. 10.

Special District Judge J. Bruce Harvey set bond for Adkins at $2,000. She is scheduled to appear in court again Feb. 10 for a bond appearance.