Jail for prescriptiom fraud?

[kajama]

Hi, well I have read some older post concerning this but not sure how it ended up. I am a 34 year old wife and mother, I have a very active life with my children. About 2 years ago I was prescribed Lortab and Soma to help with my migraines. Well after a while I became addicted to it. Now I have never been on street drugs or ever drank so this addiction was new to me and I didn't confide in anyone due to my embarrassment bout it. Oh ( did I mention that my husband is an associate pastor of a local church) This went on for about a year. I liked the feeling of happiness, energy, and not feeling stressed out. Well after a while I had to take more and more. The most I have been on is about 10-12 Lortab 10/500 a day. Well I did something really stupid. After doctor rx wern't enough I called in my own rx. After a while I realized I had a problem and confided in my husband and I went to a medical detox center. Now I have been clean for 9 month now. Now my past has come back and I was confronted by some police.  I told them everything and was completly honest. They did have a warrent for my arrest and let me turn myself in the next day.  Now I am facing court and have no idea what to expect. The police did search my house for the meds but found none and I offered to do a drug test. I have no past record and I know what I did is a felony and wonder if it mandatory jail time. I know what I did was wrong and I am willing to pay the price.  I am scared of jail but gotta do what u gotta do. I am wondering if anyone else has been though this and what was the outcome?  any help would be appriciated.

[vicki595]

Only a lawyer can answer these questions and I wouldn't appear in court without one.
You have a lot going in your favor though so it just depends on your state,the DA and the judge.

Good luck~
Vicki

[avisg]

talk to a lawyer what state are you in how many scripts did you forge and for how much and what of.

[kajama]

I am in Louisiana and even though I called in 9 through out the year they only charged me with 4. They were for Lortab 10/500 #90  I don't think I can afford a lawyer.  I have a court date in a week and they told me if I need a public defender then I can ask for one at the arreignment. Since I already admitted what I did to the police then I don't think I have much of a defense in court. Now the police acted like it was not a big deal and told me not to worry because I didn't sell it and I am no longer addicted. Now maybe he was just being nice, idk. I know I will not know for sure what will happen because that will depend on the judge, I am just asking peoples opion and prior experiences to help ease my mind just a little until I go to court. I just want to be prepared in case they want to send me to jail.

[GA Guy]

Ask for a public defender and do not say anything else without them there. That being said, I think you'll probably be placed on probation. I've seen people do the same thing and even sell them and just get probation if they got treatment. So, stay clean and talk to your lawyer.

[julie007007]

I feel that you will be fine. I am praying for you. Chances are you will be put on probation. Stay honest. It'll be fine. The jails are so overcrowded and you turned yourself in, offered to take a drug test, and admitted your mistake. The one thing the judge will respect is your honesty and willingness to take responsibility. I highly doubt you'll go to jail. I am not a lawyer, but do know the system fairly well and minored in criminolgy. The judicial system has too many REAL criminals to deal with. You just made poor choices due to your addiction. But your clean today and THAT speaks volumes in you favor. Good luck!!

[kajama]

Thanks so much that does help some. Believe me I am doing my share of praying. I can honestly say that staying clean is an everyday battle but with this all happening I think is God sent. I mean it honestly scares the crap out of me but think if I wouldn't have gotten caught it might be a different story. Thanks for the info :)

[Mikeinthesouth]

I am in Louisiana as well. I will say that your present status drug free is a major help as well as any aftercare you have completed and any attending presently is a plus for the judge. He or She will want to see you are working towards better. Bring all documentation of aftercare 12 step meetings drug tests or what have you. I went to a drug testing lab took a 200.00 hair blood and urine analysis just to have the documentation for my situation which is not any criminal charges. I also keep a signed list of all my meetings and am currently attending outpatient treatment as well as I did 5 weeks inpatient and it helps me in the process. You might want to go inpatient as that might be a part of your sentence. They have a drug court here that helps tons of people avoid jail time by going through their treatment. You might want to look into the grug court programs offered in you parish.

[Mikeinthesouth]

drug sorry typo

[kajama]

Crap just found out today that I am charged in 2 different cities. The reason is cause I picked up a refill in a city that is less than 5 mins away but in same pharmacy chain.  They called me and told me so I had to go to police station to give my statement. I went and thank God they gave me a recongnist bond (don't know how to spell) Another words I didn't have to pay anything, I just had to sign a paper promising to appear in court. The first one I was charged with I had a 25,000 bond. So much stress right now and even though I have been clean for months now, I can't help but think that if I just had one day of meds I could forget everything just for a moment.  No worries though not going that route again. Just depressing though.  On a brighter note, my husband knew I was not good emotionally today and he suprised me with a puppy boxer. Did brighten my mood alot I have to say.

Also to mike...
The only thing I have completed was a detox program for 8 days.  they did help with some counsiling. I haven't look in to anything else since then but kinda wish I did. I just don't know what the benifit would be since I have been clean for 9 mths.  Still learning about all this addiction stuff. I feel so very stupid considering I did study some of this in college. I am  or was a LPN, have a feeling that is gonna be taken away from me. It is amazing how much you can mess up your life from poor choices, wish I could start all over

[GA Guy]

I'm going to give you some advice that will go a LONG way to help with your situation. Start going to NA meetings immediately and get a form signed. Most probation officers make people do it as a parole requirement...doing it on your own shows a big step. Log as many meetings as you can. It will help you stay out of jail and keep you clean. Get a sponsor and home group, too. Plus, you may meet some people in influential areas of the justice system that will vouch for you.

[kajama]

Thanks, definitly noted... I will look around tomorrow for a place that offers it. Anything to stay out of jail I will do

[kajama]

Ok court tomorrow, please please pray things will work out, I was able to attend one NA meeting which I have to say was AWESOME!! and I will go back. I am scared crapless about tomorrow. I know it is not in my hands anymore.  Anyway I will post tomorrow about what happen (if they don't send me to Jail)

[cirene]

Reading this post made my stomach sink for you lol.  Positive vibes your way, for sure.  I hope all works out as stress-free as possible.  <3  

[vicki595]

Cirene~    It's funny...on the other forum page you were chatising her and very blunt.
You were blaming people like HER for people like YOU being unable to get the meds you NEED because all the doctors are worried about lawsuits and send people off to pain management.   Hmmm

[Mikeinthesouth]

Good Luck

[kajama]

thanks so much for your support and concern, I can't tell you how much it means to me.  I just want to point out one thing. It was Cerronn that said those things. Cirene kinda agreed but he wasn't the one who made that post.  Anyway like I said thanks guys for everything, I made it hard for myself with my actions but more importantly I have a husband and 3 beautiful children that are also have to go through the stress of dealing with this even though they did nothing wrong. I don't think any kinda of punishment the court can give me will ever compare to the heartache I caused them. I love them sooooo much and hate myself for what I did.

[vicki595]

Yes,it was both of them. I didn't like it at all. It's not what we're all about here.
You're so sweet...which especially makes me furious...no one should speak to you like that.

Vicki   xo

[kajama]

Well all we can say is we all screw up in our lifetime. Time to get back up and dust ourselves off. We are a lot stronger than what we think we are. Honestly are we gonna let these little particals run our lives and take everthing awaw from us, my answer is H,,,, NO this happen for a reason and our job is to learn from them. That is what we were created, After you learn what do you do??? hummmm well it is time to let others know your experences so they don't make the same mistakes. We wouldn't be who we are if we didn't go through this. WE will be better people. One of my favorate saying,  " Don;t let this world determin who you are YOU deternm who you will be.  When you fall down, u get right back up. I know  living life like you are in the middle of your nightmare, you knew it was comin but it hit you out of nowhere. WE will get through this and come out as better people......I know proplely doesn't makes since but that is just what si going through my mind at this time LOVE U  GUYS!!!!!!

[cirene]

Yeah, you were reading into things.  I didn't blame her specifically for anything.  I don't even know her.  I was simply agreeing that yeah, actions like hers do make it difficult for others.  I'm glad kajama herself understood what I meant.

Btw, addicts aren't victims.  They need to be held accountable for their actions.  It's not 'oh, poor me.'  It's 'dammit, I need some help getting back on track - I ****ed up!'  I'm thinking this is universal for anyone who's in recovery.  I mean, I don't think I'm the only one who's learned this is what I'm saying --- haven't you heard this before or no?

[cerrone]

Yeah, the role of addict and victim plays all well together. I can't believe they are talking about what I said, still.  People do read into the things much more than needed some time.  I never blamed the girl, who i do not know, for anything. I just kinda stated the obvious.

And to vicki: My post upset you? Well I'm not Mr. Sympathy, I said nothing wrong or out of line whatsoever.  If everyone always got the same response, advice on here, than there would be no reason for this to even be here.  If you don't agree with someone's post, fine your choice but dont go on some crazy rant saying thats not how "we" want to be represented.  Everyone has their own story and their own thoughts/opinions, it's called diversity.  If you don't agree with a post, don't dwell on it.  It seems to me the only person being harsh are you two, harboring thoughts that I someonehow persecuted her or something.  I said we weren't attorneys, 6 to 5, and a case like this and 500,000 other ones is a problem, it does cause problems with chronic pain patients, its a reality.  while i have not said one bad thing about this woman, you have characterized me. I don't think every addict is the victim when it comes to the addicts crimes.  Just because you are an addict doesn't get you a free pass to say "my bad" or "its because im an addict" when most of the time it should simply just be I screwed up! But it's pretty obvious you didn't interpret my post very well at all so I'm not going to expect you to really relate to this one either.  Again, I have said not one thing about the either in a bad way, and just because i'm not as compassionate or sympathetic as you doesn't mean I'm being harsh, everyone is different which is one of the reasons this website does work so well because you have different advice, views, opinions, etc.

[cirene]

I'm with you for a good chunk of all this.  Recovery isn't all puppies, kittens and glitter.  It's cleaning up after yourself as well.  You can't just ignore past actions like they never happened.  They won't magically disappear and the world won't automatically forgive you just because you've admitted you're an addict now.  But I gotta say, kajama's spot on with how she's dealing with this - I respect her 100%.  But I think Vicki does need to take a step back and take a look at things from a different perspective.

Cerrone - let's just try and move forward and look towards the future.  Let this rot into the depths of the archives lol.  I hate that this ever happened.  And getting well is the most important part of being here right now :).

[kajama]

Chill out and relax didn't mean to start a war here. this world needs people like vicki to help with encourgement.so THANK YOU Believe me i already feel like the most stupid person in the world and no i do not feel like a victim, i did it to my self.  Also need people that will state the absolute worst thing that can happen to you (cerronne) :) and Ga guy and also Mike, you too are great and offer encourgement and advice.  This is the last time I will post concerning this, but will post letting people know how things turn out in court.  Everyone take care, I know I am gonna make the best out of life RIGHT now reguardless how things turn out later.

[cirene]

Can threads get locked here?  This would be a good one to close imho lol.

No more negativity towards anyone!

[Mikeinthesouth]

This is pretty funny. Thanks for the laugh you guys. You guys are great. As I always say diversity makes the world go around.