LONDON, Ky. - Wilma Thompson, 41, of London, pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday, before U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom, to obtaining a controlled substance through the registration of another and identity theft.
In her guilty plea, Thompson admitted that she was employed as an office manager for a physician, that prescription tablets repeatedly went missing from the office, and that she was observed on multiple occasions taking Xanax at the office. Thompson’s employment with the office ended in October 2017; but in her plea agreement, she admitted that, in May 2018, she attempted to obtain 180 Hydrocodone tablets, using a forged prescription bearing her previous employer’s name and DEA registration number.
After obtaining a search warrant, officers seized 582 forged prescriptions, bearing the physician’s name and DEA registration number, and 23 empty prescription bottles. Thompson admitted that she had been forging prescriptions, monthly, since January 14, 2016, and she had obtained a total of 8,370 hydrocodone tablets and 2,358 alprazolam (Xanax) tablets.
Thompson was indicted in November 2019.
Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; James Robert Brown, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chief Darrell Kilburn, London Police Department, jointly announced the guilty plea.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and London Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Rabold.
Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced on May 19, 2020. She faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000. However, any sentence will be imposed by the Court after its consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal sentencing statutes.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
— END —
