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Prescription Forgery and Warrants

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Finlandia

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
North Carolina

A friend went through a rough time and made some big mistakes over the past month. I advised he try this forum but he was concerened it could be incriminating in some way so I offered to see what I could find out.
Basically, he has taken pain Meds for awhile, found himself without enough and went on to forge prescriptions over about a month.
The confusing part is that two guys knocked on his door the day he filled a Rx, he didn't answer the door and they left. They didn't knock for that long or loud. He freaked out of course and he and his wife stayed up all night expecting to be raided or something. (they've done this to some degree the whole time)
Long story short, they haven't come back and he hasn't heard anything. He was still in same situation with Meds so filled more after.
Now, he's basically looking out of the window constantly and not going anywhere. I could go on about how paranoid he is -- well, maybe paranoid isn't right word since it's a pretty big problem -- but I'll try to ask some specific questions.
1. What's the likelihood that investigators would take the trouble of stopping by then a month goes by without anything? Would they spend this much time before doing anything and let him do what he wants if they suspected him?
2. Is it likely police could show up anytime and search the house? Are search warrants common with this type of case or is it more likely he'd get something in the mail?
3. Is his wife implicated or guilty of anything?
4. What would be the best course of action, considering he isn't certain he's been caught yet?
BTW, his home phone has been cut off for about half of the time but I imagine they could figure out his cell phone.
I think he's done quite a bit of searching online for active warrants and hasn't found anything. He even got a ticket about halfway through this mess and the officer didn't give any implication anything was wrong.

Thanks, and any advice will be appreciated.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


Finlandia

Junior Member
I think it was too early to avoid getting in trouble or dismissed.
Just to be clear I'm not trying to offer any excuses for him, and he knows he screwed up. But he ran out another time and said the withdrawal made him wish he was dead. For those not familiar, being on a regimine of pain medication can give one the feeling they're on probation. Lots of suspicion all around and generally not smiled upon by the general public. Even the understanding drs who prescribe it are forced to be fairly unforgiving by the strict oversight of the DEA. And I suppose it's somewhat understandable as my friend's actions are an example of the level of addiction certain individuals can reach, and what they'll do to avoid the pain of going through sudden withdrawal. All other responsibilities and concerns tend to fade away when faced with that type of sickness.
But yes, anticipating other questions he does have a problem, to put it lightly, and I expect if he has before, by now he wouldn't offer any argument for that assessment.
One other thing that may be of use for any legal advice is that he has a completely clean background -- I think he's had a seatbelt ticket, but that's about it.
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
This isn't legal advice, really.

If he isn't obtaining adequate pain control on his current regimen, he needs to be reassessed, possibly by a pain management center. They are, very generally speaking, more adept at using multiple treatments than a GP might be.

It's one thing to develop a tolerance and need higher dosages - this happens frequently with chronic pain patients. Addiction though is a different animal. Regardless, if he genuinely needs something more for pain control, he must be reassessed. However, if he's pill-shopping, he needs to get himself into rehab. And quickly.

Wait around for the seniors to respond; they might have some real legal advice for you. The only other thing I can say is, the fact there hasn't been any law enforcement activity yet doesn't mean that there isn't something brewing.
 

Finlandia

Junior Member
I appreciate your response, and I agree that if he was finding himself needing more than what was prescribed the pain control may not have been adequate, or maybe be found himself needing them to manage more than just pain, which would put him in the addiction category, I guess.
I think his options now are limited, unfortunately, although he could go on as if nothing happened and try to find help or better care; as you said just because nothing has happened yet doesn't mean it won't, and it might be hard to try to move on with his life not knowing when he'll get a knock at the door.
Do you know if investigators would watch someone's actions and take their time before arresting them if they already knew something? It seems pretty 'black-and-white' if they knew enough to suspect him, I wonder why they would wait. I know from 'mob' type movies that they'll wait until they can get somebody on a bigger charge, but he seems like a pretty small fish to catch and I'd think they might have more pressing issues. I don't know, though. I guess it would at least help to know what they do most of the time in cases like these: go straight to the house, or wait awhile and see what else happens?
 

>Charlotte<

Lurker
I guess it would at least help to know what they do most of the time in cases like these: go straight to the house, or wait awhile and see what else happens?
There's really no way to answer that without the ability to read their minds.

The best thing you can do is stop now instead of pushing your luck, because it's just a matter of time before you do get caught.
 

Finlandia

Junior Member
That's good advice - and he has no plans to do it again. (as common as the 'my friend' thing is in forums, I can assure you it is not me. The only reason to specify is because I thought there may be some questions I couldn't answer.)

As far as the 'reading their minds', I understand what you mean as I'm sure things are done differently everywhere. But for example, if someone was to rob a bank or commit a violent crime it seems that the police would show up at their door as soon as they even suspected; but I was wondering if there might be certain types if cases where they felt no real rush to get to the suspect, or if they wanted to investigate for a while. The investigators knocking on the door was a confusing incident, since they didn't return - and they may not have been investigators, but it was a huge coincidence if they weren't.
 

Finlandia

Junior Member
Does anyone Think there is enough likelihood of being caught that he should turn himself in? I have no idea. He wants to keep his wife and child out of it.
Along those lines, what should he do to make sure they (wife and child) aren't involved in anyway? There's nothing he can do about any records there might be, but could there be anything at his house that would make his wife involved in any way? Sorry if this is obvious somehow, I really don't know how it works.
Anyone's ideas would be appreciated.
 

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