By Keaton J. MacBeth
Staff writer
CLARION – A Clarion woman and a Strattanville man have been charged following their alleged attempt to obtain a fraudulent prescription.
Lisette Lisa Rivera, 45, of Clarion is charged with two counts of conspiracy to make a false insurance claim, a third-degree felony; two counts of conspiracy to acquire a controlled substance; two counts of conspiracy possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; two counts of possession with intent to manufacture of deliver, all unclassified felonies; four counts of conspiracy-forgery, all first-degree misdemeanors; two counts of corruption of minors, both first-degree misdemeanors; one count of theft; one count of receiving stolen property, both second-degree misdemeanors; two counts of possession of a controlled substance; two counts of conspiracy, both unclassified misdemeanors, at an unspecified time Dec. 7, 2015, at CVS Pharmacy along Main Street and along South Fourth Avenue in Clarion Borough.
Dante Brown, 32, Strattanville, is charged with conspiracy to obtain a controlled substance; two counts of possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; two counts conspiracy possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, all unclassified felonies; four counts of forgery, a first-degree misdemeanor; two counts of corruption of minors, a first-degree misdemeanor; theft by unlawful taking of movable property; receiving stolen property, both second-degree misdemeanors; possession of a controlled substance; conspiracy possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, both unclassified misdemeanors; two counts of conspiracy with intent to defraud, grade not provided.
According to court documents, on Feb. 11, Clarion Borough Police Officer William H. Peck IV received a voicemail from a pharmacist at CVS wanting to report potentially two prescriptions being filled without the authorization of the person the prescriptions were issued to.
Peck and Clarion Borough Police Officer Neil E. Kemmer went to CVS to investigate the report.
Peck and Kemmer meet with the on-duty pharmacist who provided the officers with documentation from the patient who said the prescriptions were filled without his consent.
The first prescription was filled on Dec. 7 and was for 60 morphine pills. The second prescription was filled on Dec. 13 and was for 90 hydrocodone pills. Both prescriptions are Schedule 2 controlled substances.
The pharmacist told Peck a younger male picked up the prescriptions and told the clerks he was picking up the prescriptions for his uncle.
The manager of CVS provided Peck with video surveillance taken on the days the prescriptions were filled. The video showed a younger male both times dropping off the prescriptions then picking them up.
Peck and Kemmer watched the video of the rear parking lot and noted the male was dropped off by a white van both times. The van had unique marking on one window.
Kemmer believed he knew who the male was picking up the prescriptions and believed it was a known 17-year-old male.
Peck and Kemmer found information at the borough police station which involved the white van in question and it matched the van seen in the video. The van was registered to Dante Brown.
Peck drove to Strattanville Borough and located the white van at an apartment building along Main Street.
On Feb. 15, Peck went to the residence of the male victim who said the prescriptions where filled without his permission.
The victim told Peck he received two prescriptions in the mail every month from his doctor. The victim said he has transportation issues and cannot get to his doctor’s office very often, so his prescriptions are mailed to him.
The victim said he had not received his prescriptions in December and called his doctor to inquire if they had been sent.
The victim told Peck his doctor said they had been sent. The victim said he never received them and never had them filled but had papers from his insurance company saying they were filled.
The victim lives in an apartment building and told Peck when the mail is delivered to the apartment it is all set on a table in the lobby for residents to go through and pick out their mail. The victim believed someone had gone through the mail and taken his prescriptions.
Later in the day on Feb. 15, Peck and a state police trooper went to the residence of the owner of the white van seen in the CVS surveillance video and made contact with Brown.
Brown told the officers he remembered the incidents about and said he had allegedly received a call from Rivera asking him to drive someone to the pharmacy.
Brown said he had been in the area when Rivera called him and he went to her apartment in the University Inn along Main Street and South Fourth Avenue and he picked up a young male he did not know.
Brown said he took the young male to CVS and he went in and then came back out. The two drove around for a bit while the prescription was filled. Once the prescription was filled Brown allegedly drove the young male back to Rivera’s apartment.
Brown said during the second incident he picked up the same young male on Liberty Street near Clarion Area High School and drove him to CVS.
Once the prescription was filled he drove the young male back to the area near the high school.
Brown said he was given $10 for the driving the young male to CVS and was not given any pills.
Brown provided Peck with a cell phone number which he believed belonged to the young male.
Peck then made contact with the young male’s mother at her place of employment. Peck explained what he was investigating and he needed to speak with the young male.
The mother called the young male and had him come to her place of employment. While waiting for the young male to arrive, Peck asked the mother what her son’s cell phone number was. She gave it to Peck and it matched up to the number given to Peck by Brown
The young male met with Peck and Peck explained the investigation to the male.
The male said he had been asked by “Lisa” to pick up two prescriptions for her. Peck was able to determine “Lisa” was Lisette Rivera.
The male said he met Rivera through her roommate and had hung out at her apartment a few times.
The male said he was at Rivera’s apartment playing video games and “vaping” when he was asked to go get the prescriptions
The male told Peck Rivera was on crutches and asked him to go pick up the prescriptions and she would give him $5 to do so.
The male said he walked to CVS and picked up the prescription and then returned to Rivera’s apartment.
Peck asked the male how he got to CVS and the male said he walked. Peck told the male he knew he was lying and had it on surveillance video that he was dropped off. Peck told the male to tell him the truth.
The male then told Peck he had been dropped off both times to pick up the prescriptions.
The male said he was asked to go pick up the first prescription by Rivera and she allegedly told him to tell the CVS employees he was picking the prescription up for his grandfather or uncle.
The male said told Rivera he felt uncomfortable picking up the prescription. The male also said he memorized the name on the prescription and the victim’s date of birth.
The male said Rivera called someone to pick the male up and then he was picked up by a man in a white van who he did not know.
The male dropped the prescription off at CVS and then drove around with the man in the white van until the prescription was filled. He then went back into CVS and picked up the prescription and signed for it with the name “James.”
The male told Peck the second incident occurred when the male was at Rivera’s apartment at the University Inn and Rivera allegedly approached the male asking him again to go pick up a prescription.
The male told Rivera he again felt uncomfortable going to pick up the prescription. Rivera allegedly told the male he had to go pick up the prescription because he had done it once before, and Rivera said she “had” the male because he had done it before.
The male said he was again picked up by the male in the white van and was driven to CVS to pick up the second prescription. The young male said he was then taken back to Rivera’s apartment and gave her the prescription bag.
The male and his mother agreed to come to the borough policed station to give a written statement to Peck.
On Feb. 16 the male, his mother, and his step-father came to the borough police station and provided Peck with a written statement.
Peck then showed the young male a Facebook picture of Rivera and the male said she was the person who asked him to pick the prescription.
Rivera and Brown were both subsequently arrested and housed in the Clarion County Jail both unable to post $50,000 bail.