* From the Herald & Review…
The Macon County State’s Attorney says he’s satisfied after a woman who plead guilty to stealing almost $70,000 from Whitmore and Oakley townships has now paid the money back.
Tricia Napier, 41, the former assessor for the two townships, appeared in Macon County Circuit Court Friday and was placed on probation for two years in addition to the restitution order. She was also ordered to submit her DNA for indexing to the State Police offenders’ database, and charged a $250 fee for that. […]
Scott said full restitution in this case was particularly important given the size of the sum involved and the relatively small size of the two townships. Sworn police affidavits said Napier, whose office was in Oreana, looted the money over 13 months and spent a lot of it on feeding her addiction to OxyContin. Napier, who earned $20,500 a year in the job, had told detectives from the Macon County Sheriff’s Office that street prices for the drug ranged from $50 a pill to as high as $6,000 for a bottle of pills.
Detectives said they had discovered the township accounts had been drained with 88 checks written with forged signatures that had started being cashed in January 2015. Napier had told the police who arrested her in February 2016 that she was in “detox” and had filed a lawsuit against a hospital in connection with a previous surgery that had caused her to become addicted to painkillers.
As this story shows, opioid addiction can happen to just about anyone. And it almost never ends well.
* Related…
* Drugmaker pushed opioid cancer drug on patients with neck pain: state lawsuit
- Cubs in '16 - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 12:51 pm:
Yet some lawmakers are skittish about using marijuana as an analgesic. Opiates are obviously a better option. /s
- Sarah W - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 12:53 pm:
It also shows that when it comes to the criminal justice system, it pays to be white.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 1:02 pm:
Steal $70K for Oxy and you get probation?
What about the West Side dude who reaches over the counter and takes a $20 out of the 7-11 drawer for crack? Does he get probation?
There are two justice systems in this country.
- Jocko - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 1:15 pm:
If it comes in a bottle, you’re to be pitied. If you buy it on the street (and profit someone who’s black or brown), you’re a scourge and we’ll throw the book at you.
- Annonin' - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 1:15 pm:
Thank goidbess we can count on our Rx drug industry to control supplies
- Liberal Elite - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 1:24 pm:
-Wordslinger - Preach.
First thought in my mind reading the first sentence was “Oh, so she’s white.”
- Cubs in '16 - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 1:24 pm:
===If it comes in a bottle, you’re to be pitied. If you buy it on the street (and profit someone who’s black or brown), you’re a scourge and we’ll throw the book at you.===
Huh? Ms. Napier illegally obtained the Oxy after she’d become addicted through legal means. The book was not thrown at her.
- Buster crab - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 1:29 pm:
Pot would help a lot of people with pain. But getting a prescription? If the Dr. Prescribes opioids, you just swing by Walgreens. But for the much less dangerous marijuana, you have to jump through a thousand hoops and you’re treated like a drug fiend.
- weary - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 1:41 pm:
Lots of quick surface analysis going on. The townships got their money back. That wouldn’t have happened if she was sitting in a jail cell somewhere. I wasn’t at the trial, and don’t know the person, but it does seem like her willingness and ability to pay restitution may have had an influence on the sentence. I do agree that it seems like a very light sentence on the surface, but every case is different and I don’t think anyone here (myself included) has enough information from a 4 paragraph article to be so opinionated about whether justice was served or not. You COULD all be exactly right, but you state your opinions as if you KNOW you are right.
- Downstate - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 1:41 pm:
Prescription meds should be viewed through a suspect lens. The stories on the amount of pills prescribed for post-surgery recovery are staggering. Responsible patients are choosing to “tough it out” rather than risking addiction.
- DeseDemDose - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 2:12 pm:
Walgreens has cheap opioids. Why aren’t pharmacists who knowingly fill these prescriptions for sleazy docs ever held responsible. The know what’s up.
- Rocky Rosi - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 2:16 pm:
We must pray for her.
- Terry Salad - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 2:46 pm:
Even if her name were not published (and no description was), did anyone think for even a minute that this person was not white?
- Last Bull Moose - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 2:50 pm:
Grew up in Oakley township. Surprised they had $70,000 available to steal.
It sounds like she was convicted of embezzlement, with the sentence (unspecified) reduced because the money was repaid. Sounds like a friends and family rescue effort.
Opioid addiction is everywhere. Jailing the addict is not useful. At least she did not overdose.
I don’t think this was different races being treated differently. We are talking about a drug addict, not a drug dealer. There may be a greater feeling of community and “there but for the grace of God go I” thinking than in Chicago.
- Soccermom - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 2:58 pm:
Opioids are a scourge on our nation. This is horrific.
- Albany Park Patriot - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 4:50 pm:
This is sad. Cutting funding for addiction treatment and services is a major disinvestment. Unfortunately, we have a governor and president who are doing just that.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 4:59 pm:
This case (and many others) are tragic. I know this person and this case.
She had two botched operations at the local hospital (there is pending litigation since 2013). As a result, she was in immense pain and got addicted. She stole the money to feed her addiction.
When caught, she confessed. She’s been in rehab ever since with no relapses. She’s paying all of the money back. No criminal history.
It’s not an excuse. Not looking for sympathy. As Rich said, this can happen to anyone.
- Lynn S. - Wednesday, Jun 7, 17 @ 6:13 pm:
Seconding what Word said.
Sympathies to her friends and family, but if she had been a lower-income racial minority in a blue or pink-collar profession, she’d have gotten a far stiffer sentence.
“Addiction can happen to anyone” is true, but it’s also true that we have two different justice systems in this nation. She got to go into the one that benefits those who are rich and/or white.