When a mother and her son are both out at different pharmacies trying to pass forged prescriptions for oxycodone, at least it can be said that they have interests in common, or so it would seem according to police. Authorities just recently arrested a New York mother and her son on felony charges of forgery relating to oxycodone prescriptions. The alleged crimes took place nearly three years ago at Long Island pharmacies. The 54-year-old mother from Queens and her 36-year-old son of Bellerose were arrested at separate locations in New York City.
The son is accused of presenting a forged prescription for 120 oxycodone pills at a Walgreen’s store in April 2011. The pharmacist confirmed the prescription was phony by calling the doctor. The mother is accused of presenting forged prescriptions at CVS pharmacies in Farmingdale and West Hempstead in Oct. 2010, Nov. 2010 and May 2011. Authorities issued a press statement on the arrests but did not indicate whether any of the prescriptions were actually filled, which could be an issue to support part of a criminal defense.
They also did not say what evidence or the nature of the proof that they have to support these arrests. It may be that the pharmacists identified them from mug shots, but that begs the question why police have waited almost three years to do anything. The delay may be a signal to criminal defense counsel that there could be some kind of an evidentiary void in these cases.
The New York felony charges included a charge of second-degree possession of a forged instrument and second-degree identity theft against the son, and three counts of second-degree identity theft against the mother. The police press release doesn’t appear to make mention, even generally, of any hard evidence backing up the arrests. Consequently, these accused individuals would do well to obtain immediate meetings with their respective defense counsel in order to initiate their own investigation and determine what evidence the prosecution is relying upon to make these arrests.
Source: examiner.com, “Cops: Mother, son arrested in forged prescription probe,” June 18, 2013