WILLMAR -- Susan Marie Erickson, 40, of Willmar, pleaded guilty Monday to one felony count of third-degree drug possession of 50 or more dosages of a narcotic mixture. The plea was entered in an agreement that the other six felony charges against her be dismissed.
The charges, including a total of five drug-related felonies and two aggravated forgery felonies, stem from Erickson's alleged use of forged documents to fill 23 prescriptions for hydrocodone at numerous Willmar-area pharmacies between April 6 and June 11. According to the complaint, some of the prescriptions were filled multiple times for a total of 716 tablets of the narcotic analgesic drug.
According to the complaint, police were tipped off to a forged prescription by a K-Mart pharmacist. The script was for 40 pills from Dr. Joseph Wang, a local dentist. When interviewed, Wang told authorities that Erickson worked in the building where his office was and that he had not prescribed any hydrocodone to her. He also told officers that the maximum prescription of the drug was 20 tablets and that no patients got a refill of the drug without coming back to see him and only if they were still in pain after oral surgery.
CEE-VI Drug Task Force officers investigated and found that Erickson had filled prescriptions and refills for up to 60 pills at a time at six Willmar pharmacies with the forged prescriptions. She will be sentenced Oct. 1.
