Illawarra receptionist Sarah Witt sentenced for dodgy oxycodone scam
A medical practice receptionist-turned-con artist whose fake script scheme netted her more than 700 oxycodone tablets has been sentenced for her brazen offending.
Illawarra Star
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An Illawarra medical practice receptionist who forged her way to obtaining more than 700 oxycodone tablets over two weeks has copped her punishment.
Sarah Therese Witt, 38, fronted Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday in a moon boot where she adhered to her previous guilty pleas to 15 counts of forging a prescription with a prohibited drug, 15 counts of inducing a pharmacist to dispense a false prescription and larceny.
The court heard the mother of two’s deceitful crimes occurred while she was on a community corrections order for embezzling money from Parsons Funerals at the beginning of 2021.
Documents tendered in court said Witt began working at a medical practice in Figtree on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.
Between then and Wednesday, March 9, Witt had stolen the head GP‘s prescription pad which she would go on to fashion 15 fake scripts.
On March 9, she handed in a forged script for a 20 pack of 20mg oxycodone capsules at Good Price Pharmacy Warehouse in Albion Park Rail.
She returned to the same pharmacy two more times in the following four days where she acquired 20 10mg capsules and 40 5mg capsules.
The next day, Witt went to the Advantage Pharmacy in Albion Park Rail where she duped the pharmacist into giving her 20 20mg oxycodone capsules.
The documents said Witt returned to the Good Price Pharmacy Warehouse and the Advantage Pharmacy a combined five times in the following nine days where she managed to successfully buy more oxycodone capsules.
Witt’s plot came unstuck when she put in a script for 20 5mg capsules at Andrew’s Pharmacy in Albion Park.
The pharmacist fulfilled the dodgy script, however, upon reviewing it later that day, he became suspicious and contacted the medical practice listed on it before calling the police.
The court heard that on the same day, Witt picked up another 20 5mg capsules from a Kanahooka Pharmacy, but in the meantime police were reviewing CCTV footage at Andrew‘s Pharmacy.
They recognised her, having spoken to her for an unrelated matter just a couple of days prior.
The police attended Witt’s Horsley home where she admitted to making false scripts before telling the officers she downed 20 5mg Endone (a brand of oxycodone) tablets because she did not “want to be here anymore”.
She denied having possession of the prescription pad, telling the police she “only took a couple of pages” and denied having any of the medication with her.
Police were concerned Witt had overdosed so they called for an ambulance to rush her to Shellharbour Hospital.
After being examined, it was determined that she “wasn’t under the effect of oxycodone” and if she had taken 20 capsules she would be ”unconscious or deceased”.
Court documents said further police investigations that day, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, revealed the extent of her fake scripts scheme.
Officers questioned Witt again and she told them she knew the pharmacists she approached to fulfil the scripts, going on to tell them she would “try to distract them” so they wouldn‘t notice her ”shitty” handwriting.
Witt was issued with a court attendance notice, however, that did not stop her from committing the same crime the next day when she collected 20 20mg tablets from the Kanahooka Pharmacy.
Police did not pick up this further act until they went to the pharmacy seeking evidence about the prior offending.
Witt‘s final offence came on March 29, when she handed over another fraudulent script at the Unanderra Pharmacy.
The pharmacist was suspicious about the script and spoke to their manager who had previous dealings with the doctor named on the script.
The manager questioned Witt, given the doctor was not one to write handwritten scripts, and she replied “the printer was broken”.
The pharmacy contacted the medical practice and staff confirmed the prescription pad had been stolen.
When police confronted Witt in early April about the last offence, she told them “I wrote on it myself, I am going through a tough time”.
In total, Witt obtained more 716 oxycodone tablets with a combined weight of 7.356g
In court on Tuesday, Magistrate Claire Girotto said she was “really concerned” by the two instances after Witt had been issued with a notice to attend court.
Ms Girotto also described the comments Witt made to police about consuming 20 tablets as “manipulative”.
The court heard Witt had multiple health concerns including a broken foot requiring further medical intervention.
Ms Girotto sentenced Witt to a three-month intensive corrections order for the last two offences as well as a three-year community corrections order for the remaining charges.
Witt was also ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.
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