Allen County, Kentucky, Resident Guilty Of Stealing Hydrocodone Pills From Her Employer – A Scottsville, Kentucky, Pharmacy

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A former employee of Stovall’s Prescription Shop, located in Scottsville, Kentucky, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court, to conspiracy to distribute the pain killer, hydrocodone, that was stolen from her employer, and conspiring to sell over $5,000 of stolen hydrocodone that had not been made available to consumers for retail purchase, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Lynn Harper Denton, age 46, of Allen County, Kentucky pleaded guilty before Chief Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr., to two charges in a seven count indictment. According to the plea agreement, between May 2012, and continuing to October 16, 2012, in Allen County, Kentucky, Denton, a former employee of Stovall’s Prescription Shop, conspired with Jeffrey Clay Stinson and Katherine Virginia Rookstool, to knowingly possess and distribute hydrocodone. Denton admitted to stealing over 10,000 hydrocodone pills from Stovall’s Prescription Shop and selling them to Rookstool, who then sold the pills to Stinson. Stinson sold the pills to others. Stinson pleaded guilty to federal charges and is awaiting sentencing. Rookstool has an April 21, 2014 trial date.

Further, Denton admitted that while employed at Stovall’s Prescription Shop, between May 2012, and continuing through October 16, 2012, that she and Rookstool conspired to sell and distribute over $5,000 of stolen hydrocodone that had not been made available to consumers for retail purchase. This is a violation of 18 USC § 670 (theft of medical products) and is the first such prosecution in the Western District of Kentucky. The retail value of the stolen hydrocodone was $29,808.

The charges against Denton expose her to a maximum sentence of no more than 30 years in prison, a $750,000 fine, and a period of five years of supervised release.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Weiser and is being investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations, Owensboro domicile, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, and the Scottsville, Kentucky Police Department.