CLEARFIELD – A 45-year-old Clearfield woman who has been accused of forging pre scri ptions and acquiring medication waived her right to a preliminary hearing at Centralized Court Wednesday at the Clearfield County Jail.
Marie Veronic Sabbatino, 45 of Clearfield, has been charged with six counts of forgery, two counts each of identity theft and forging, counterfeiting, simulating or falsely representing, etc. any mark, stamp, tag, label, etc.
She also faces one count each of theft by deception, receiving stolen property, acquisition or obtaining possession of controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge and intentional possession of a controlled substance by a person not registered.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Aug. 10, 2009, Officer Michael N. Rowles, of the Clearfield Borough Police Department, received a call from Barry Stahlman, office manager for Dr. Tuesdae Stainbrook at DuBois Regional Medical Center – East. He told the officer that his call was regarding co-defendant Kimberly Rihel.
Stahlman related Rihel had attempted to pass a stolen and forged pre scri ption at the Clearfield CVS Pharmacy store. He stated he was unsure how Rihel obtained the pre scri ption, as she was not a patient of Stainbrook. He also advised police they had received a fax of the pre scri ption from the Clearfield CVS Pharmacy. He said Stainbrook’s name had been forged by someone.
Also, on Aug. 10, 2009, Rowles and another officer responded to the Clearfield CVS Pharmacy and spoke with Pharmacist Michelle Freeman. They reported she was able to recover the stolen pre scri ption from Rihel, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Police also stated the pre scri ption was made out to “Kimberly Rihel, age 33, for 60 pills of Xanx, 2 mg.” They said it also had the doctor’s name forged on it.
While at the store location, police were able to view video surveillance of the incident. Rihel was identified by police as the individual who was presenting and attempting to obtain medication from the forged pre scri ption.
Police said that in the surveillance video, they were able to see a second suspect with Rihel. They indicated that further investigation then identified Sabbatino.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Sabbatino was interviewed by Robert Snyder, deputy sheriff, on Sept. 13, 2009. During the interview, the defendant admitted she removed the pre scri ptions from the doctor’s office. She said she had forged two, indicating one was for Valium and another for Xanax.
Then on Nov. 20, 2009, police interviewed Sabbatino during which time she stated she was responsible for stealing the pre scri ption pads. She further stated she was also responsible for forging the pads that were passed and attempted to be passed.
Police were also able to obtain video surveillance from Clearfield Pharmacy for the dates of Aug, 10, 2009 and Aug. 13, 2009.
They said the first video showed both women attempting to pass a forged pre scri ption. They indicated it was the sub scri ption recovered on the same day – Aug. 10, 2009 – at the Clearfield CVS Pharmacy store.
They said the second video showed only Sabbatino, who was handing the forged pre scri ption at 3:24 p.m. on Aug. 13, 2009. They said it showed her receiving medication from the forged pre scri ption at 3:30 p.m. The defendant related she believed the pills she obtained were for Valium.