New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
According to the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office, Kami Purvis, an employee at a physician’s office, was arrested after an alleged prescription drug scheme that spanned 19 months. District Attorney Daniel Donovan claims that not only did the crime span well over a year and a half, but it is believed that as a result of prescription pad thefts, Ms. Purvis managed to obtain nearly 3500 pills of oxycodone in varying dosages.
Not only is it alleged that Ms. Purvis stole the prescription pads and forged the actual prescriptions, reports further allege that she submitted the prescriptions to one particular pharmacy 35 times. Compounding matters, it is claimed that she used her own state Medicaid card to purchase the pills in many of the transactions. If the allegations of past fraudulent transactions were not enough, reports indicate that upon Ms. Purvis’ arrest, the police recovered 15 prescription sheets including three that were filled out fraudulently. If reports are true, Ms. Purvis voluntarily submitted to a drug test where she came back with negative results. If nothing else, this will certainly hamper a potential defense that she abused the drugs as opposed to profited from them. Ms. Purvis should have requested council before agreeing to submit to such a test.
Unfortunately for Ms. Purvis, the former medical office employee now faces a potential indictment for charges including 12 counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, five counts of Forgery in the Second Degree, and one count each of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree, Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, and other lesser offenses.
Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third and Fourth Degrees are “B” and “C” felonies respectively. The third degree offense is punishable by up to nine years in prison while the fourth degree offense is punishable by up to five years in prison. Forgery is a “D” felony punishable by up to seven years in prison and Falsifying Business Records is an “E” felony punishable by up to four years in state prison. Although it does not appear that she is charged with Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, a “D” felony like Forgery, I anticipate that she will be charged with this crime for the allegedly forged prescriptions recovered from her person upon her arrest. Technically, because many of the allegations are separate individual transactions, prosecutors could seek consecutive time whereby after the completion of one sentence, a second sentence would begin.
Extensive information on the crimes of Forgery and Falsifying Business Records can be found through their associated links. Additional information on Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance can be found through their respective links as well. For materials on these and other crimes, as well as legal decisions and commentary on cases in the news, please read Saland Law PC’s New York Criminal Lawyer Blog (NewYorkCriminalLawyerBlog) or review the Saland Law PC website.
Saland Law PC is a New York criminal defense firm founded by two New York criminal lawyers and former Manhattan prosecutors. The New York criminal defense attorneys at Saland Law PC represent the accused throughout the New York City area.