Claxton City Councilman Jerome Woody was indicted today on 25 counts of acquiring or obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, according to Edmund A. Booth Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
Woody, 56, entered not guilty pleas to the indictment in the U.S. District Court in Statesboro before Magistrate Judge G.R. Smith.
The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Savannah on Dec. 11, and arises out of an investigation into allegations that Woody was presenting forged prescriptions at two pharmacies in Evans County, in order to obtain prescription narcotics. The indictment alleges that between January and March 2008, while employed as a councilman, Woody knowingly and intentionally presented 25 fraudulent prescriptions with the forged signature of a physician, and that Woody unlawfully obtained more than 750 tablets of oxycodone hydrochloride, a powerful, Schedule II narcotic controlled substance.
Woody, 56, entered not guilty pleas to the indictment in the U.S. District Court in Statesboro before Magistrate Judge G.R. Smith.
The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Savannah on Dec. 11, and arises out of an investigation into allegations that Woody was presenting forged prescriptions at two pharmacies in Evans County, in order to obtain prescription narcotics. The indictment alleges that between January and March 2008, while employed as a councilman, Woody knowingly and intentionally presented 25 fraudulent prescriptions with the forged signature of a physician, and that Woody unlawfully obtained more than 750 tablets of oxycodone hydrochloride, a powerful, Schedule II narcotic controlled substance.
Booth noted that, if convicted, Woody faces a maximum statutory penalty on each count of four years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000 and one year of supervised release. Woody remains on bond pending trial.
Booth stressed that an indictment is only an accusation and is not evidence of guilt.
The attorney said the investigation, which led to the indictment, is on-going and is being conducted by agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.