A 40-year-old Clinton Township woman is accused of fraudulently procuring prescription drugs from the Rite Aid Pharmacy located at 999 S. Lapeer Rd. in Oxford Township.

Jaime Joann LaFleur was arrested Dec. 28 and arraigned the next day in Rochester Hills 52-3 District Court on the charges of attempting to obtain a controlled substance (a four-year felony) and possession of a controlled substance (a two-year felony).

She was also charged with operating a vehicle with a suspended license, a misdemeanor.

LaFleur was released on a $5,000 personal bond.

According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s report, LaFleur forged multiple prescriptions using prescription slips belonging to a St. Clair Shores dentist, for whom she had worked for approximately 10 months. These phony prescriptions were filled at multiple pharmacies between July and December, the report stated.

It wasn’t until one was allegedly used at the Rite Aid in Oxford that a pharmacist there became suspicious and decided to investigate.

LaFleur allegedly dropped off a prescription at the Rite Aid drive-through on Dec. 28. The pharmacist recognized both LaFleur’s name and the dentist’s name from a prescription written for the suspect’s husband that was filled Dec. 23.

The pharmacist called the dentist’s office to verify the prescription and was informed that LaFleur was not a patient, but a former employee, the report stated.

The sheriff’s office was contacted and LaFleur was arrested when she later returned to Rite Aid to allegedly pick up the prescription.

When interviewed, the dentist told sheriff’s investigators LaFleur had been a part-time dental assistant at his office from January through mid-November when she quit without giving advance notice, citing her attainment of a full-time job elsewhere.

The dentist also told investigators that he does not pre-sign any prescriptions and he never prescribes the drug LaFleur is accused of fraudulently obtaining from Rite Aid, according to the report.

Using the Michigan Automated Prescription System (MAPS), sheriff’s investigators learned that in addition to the incident at Rite Aid, LeFleur allegedly had 18 other fraudulent prescriptions filled under her name using the St. Clair Shores dentist’s slips between July 3 and Dec. 17.

According to the sheriff’s report, 12 of those prescriptions were filled at CVS Pharmacy in Clinton Township, four at Walgreens in Clinton Township, one at Walgreens in St. Clair Shores and one at Walgreens in Macomb Township.

The dentist’s signature “was forged on all of these prescriptions,” the report stated.

During her interview with sheriff’s investigators, LaFleur admitted to using forged prescriptions approximately 10 to 12 times, beginning in July and ending with her Dec. 28 arrest, and insisted her husband “didn’t have anything to do with it,” the report stated.

“She denied selling them,” noted Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Patterson, commander of the Oxford Township substation.

In the report, LaFleur cited economic difficulties and family health issues as the reason for writing the fraudulent prescriptions.

LaFleur told investigators she and her husband “have fallen on hard times” and “might be losing their house.”

She also told investigators she and her husband “have been having medical issues” and “her father has been ill” as well, the report stated.