A Marietta woman was sentenced to 90 days in jail Wednesday for using multiple doctors and pharmacies to obtain prescription narcotics.
Mindy S. Fox, 31, of 237 Muskingum Drive, was sentenced in Washington County Common Pleas Court to serve time in the Washington County Jail.
The 8 a.m. sentencing was slightly delayed as Fox tried to find someone who could act as guardian for her daughter whom she had brought to the sentencing.
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Mindy S. Fox listens to Prosecuting Attorney Jim Schneider’s sentencing recommendation on one forth-degree felony count of deception to obtain a dangerous drug Wednesday morning in Washington County Common Pleas Court.
Fox pleaded guilty on June 13 to one fourth-degree felony count of deception to obtain a dangerous drug. She had originally been charged with nine counts of deception to obtain a dangerous drug.
Fox acquired a regular monthly supply of prescription pain pills from a single doctor and then rotated among four other doctors and one dentist to get additional short-term supplies, according to Washington County Prosecutor Jim Schneider. She used four pharmacies to fill the prescriptions, he said.
Between June 2010 and April 2011, she used the prescriptions to acquire pills containing hydrocodone and oxycodone, Schneider said. Both drugs are highly addictive pain medications.
Fox also has two falsification charges, one in August 2003 and one in April 2011, both first-degree misdemeanors. The latter is in connection with Wednesday's felony sentencing.
Citing a long history of medical problems and surgeries, Fox's lawyer, Shawna Landaker, said Fox had begun taking prescription medications to cope with pain and her addiction had spiraled out of control.
Fox is currently in addiction counseling with L & P Services and asserts that she has made progress, though did not go so far as to say she has quit using drugs all together.
"I'm not doing the drugs like I was doing them in the past," Fox told Judge Susan Boyer while making a statement to the court.
In addition to jail time, Fox was sentenced to five years of community control and ordered to continue her addiction counseling.
Schneider asked for a five-month jail sentence. However, Landaker asked the court for leniency citing recent health issues and the custody of Fox's daughter as factors to be taken into account.
"They recently found a spot on her lung. She is concerned about her health if she goes to jail or prison. She is worried about the custody of her daughter," said Landaker of her client.
Fox also spoke on her own behalf.
"I'm really sorry about what I did and I wanna get help," she told Boyer during her statement. "I don't want to be addicted to drugs anymore."
