Home Local News Prescription drug charges dismissed against former Richmond County human resources director

Prescription drug charges dismissed against former Richmond County human resources director

RO file photo

ROCKINGHAM — Criminal charges against the former county human resources director were dismissed by the prosecutor Friday.

According to court documents, Lori Tadlock had been accused of obtaining prescriptions of hydrocodone through misrepresentation.

That information had come to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office by someone wanting to remain anonymous, documents show.

The tipster told investigators that Tadlock had been told by her doctor that she must discontinue using Alprazolam if she wanted to continue receiving a prescription for hydrocodone. Tadlock was accused of telling her doctor she had stopped using Alprazolam in order to continue the hydrocodone prescription.

The prosecutor said the name of the individual providing the information was never given to the district attorney’s office because that individual wanted to remain anonymous.

The sheriff’s office released a statement following Tadlock’s arrest in March, saying: “Investigators were able to retrieve the documentation from the medical providers and pharmacies to determine Tadlock had received the same prescription from two different medical providers on two different occasions.”

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She was charged with: two felony counts of trafficking opium or heroin; two felony counts of obtaining a prescription for a controlled substance through misrepresentation or withholding of information; two felony counts of insurance fraud; and two misdemeanor counts of simple possession of a Schedule II controlled substance.

“After reviewing the entire case file, the State determined it could not prosecute this case without the testimony of the individual who provided the information to the sheriff’s office,” reads the explanation for dismissal. “The sheriff’s office reached out to that individual about their willingness to testify and the individual indicated they would not testify.”

The prosecutor went on to say that there is no evidence that Tadlock was selling or misusing any of the pills she was receiving or that she had multiple prescriptions from multiple doctors and that the “sole basis for any criminal wrongdoing” is the allegation that Tadlock had falsely told her doctor she discontinued taking Alprazolam to continue receiving hydrocodone.

Tadlock worked for the county for 13 years and seven months, according to information provided by County Manager Bryan Land. She was hired as a payroll technician in 2005, moved up to human resources assistant in January of 2007 and became director in April 2008, where her ending salary was $91,531 per year.

She retired from the county at the end of April.

 



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Managing Editor William R. Toler is an award-winning writer and photographer with experience in print, television and online media.