NORFOLK — A woman has been charged in federal court after she allegedly filled at least one forged oxycodone prescription at a Norfolk pharmacy.
Authorities believe Janelle Carter was one of several people involved in a conspiracy to buy and sell the highly addictive opioid pain medication in Hampton Roads, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk.
The federal case charges Carter with conspiracy to obtain a controlled substance by fraud but does not name her alleged co-conspirators.
Carter is accused of being part of a group that bought forged prescriptions for oxycodone filled out fictitiously in the name of a medical practice and doctor. Authorities believe Carter and her co-conspirators filled and attempted to fill the fake prescriptions out at Hampton Roads pharmacies before selling the drugs in an “illicit market,” the complaint states.
In an effort to not get caught, the group used aliases on the prescriptions and listed a phone number belonging to one of the group members in case a pharmacist tried to call the medical practice about a forged prescription, the complaint alleges.
Carter is accused of filling a forged oxycodone prescription on Dec. 29, 2016 at Bayview Pharmacy in Norfolk. She allegedly tried to fill another prescription there a month later, but the pharmacist refused to do it. That same day, she another a co-conspirator tried to fill a forged prescription at a CVS Pharmacy in Norfolk, the complaint states.
When Carter and others in the group got a prescription filled, they brought it to a particular member of the group who would either pay them or allow them to keep a portion of the pills to use. The rest of the pills would be sold, according to the complaint.
Carter’s lawyer, Lawrence Woodward Jr., declined to comment for this article.
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