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22-People Indicted after Murfreesboro Police Investigation Focused on Prescription Drug Misuse

Jan 11, 2013 at 06:27 am by Bryan Barrett


On Thursday, Murfreesboro Police Detectives Greg Flanagan and Paul Mongold, announced the indictment of twenty-two (22) individuals on sixty-nine (69) criminal charges stemming from a five month prescription fraud investigation. Charges range from Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Fraud, Identity Theft, and Forgery.
 
Investigators believe Christine Sankey and Donald Pinkston are responsible for recruiting at least twenty (20) others for filling professionally forged prescriptions. In exchange for pills or cash, the “recruits” would fill prescriptions for 30mg Oxycodone and return the prescription to Sankey or Pinkston, who would then sell the drugs on the street. Detectives believe that between May and October of 2012 the pair sold over 5,000 pills valued at over $100,000.
 
The investigation began when Sankey and Pinkston were caught with computers, high quality printers, scanners, and prescription grade paper. The case developed further as forged prescriptions began surfacing at local pharmacies. Through the investigation they were all traced back to Sankey and Pinkston according to the detectives.
 
Detective Greg Flanagan stated: “This is one of the largest, if not the largest, prescription fraud cases in Department history. We want to send a message that we work with doctors and pharmacists to detect prescription fraud and we will pursue any case where we discover illegal activities involving pharmaceutical fraud or forgery.”
 
Detective Paul Mongold added: “Short term or long term, we will investigate fraud crimes, dismantle organizations such as this, and hold criminals accountable for forging prescriptions. It is a serious crime that is connected to burglaries, robberies, and other issues affecting our community. It is a priority for the Fraud Unit in the CID.”
 
Picture: Detective Greg Flanagan
(left) and Detective Paul Mongold
examine forged prescriptions and
their connection to this case.
 
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