Pharmacy Employee Charged With Stealing, Selling Drugs

Rocky Mount, N.C. — An employee at a local pharmacy has been charged with stealing thousands of prescription pills and selling them, authorities said.

Morgan Brooke Jones, 21, of 5900 Terri Wood Drive, was arrested on April 3 after an undercover officer bought Alprazolam, a generic form of Xanax, on the street, authorities said. About 9,700 Alprazolam pills were seized after Jones' arrest, and investigators determined the pills were stolen from Almand’s Drug Store at Westridge Shopping Center, where Jones was employed as a pharmaceutical technician.

Jones was charged with two counts each of possession with the intent to sell and deliver Schedule IV controlled substance and maintaining a vehicle for the purpose of keeping and storing a controlled substance and one count of selling and delivering a Schedule IV controlled substance.

After the arrest, the Nash County Sheriff’s Office called in the State Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy to assist in the case.

Jones was rearrested Thursday and charged with 12 counts of embezzlement of a controlled substance by employee stemming from the theft of 24,000 Alprazolam pills over the last year, authorities said.

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I have worked in drug stores in the past for years and when inventory is done there have been some stores where tons of pills have been missing and that I know of nothing much was done. At one store in particular the head pharmacy was a alcoholic and what ever else yet he hept his job, why dont ask me, but when inventory was done wow at the med's missing. Point no one lost there job. Funny how the world works!!

At Work
April 25, 2007 6:07 p.m.

First of all some of the information that is being told in this story is not accurate. Sounds like to me it doesnt take a real rocket scientist to figure out that ,there is no way possible that this person could have removed that many alone,lets use a little common sense here. So you as the public put two and two together & see what you come up with? No shes not perfect & everyone makes mistakes,& sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes,but lets give credit where credit is due ,I think they need to look into the situation,and find who else needs to have the finger pointed at! Thanks

chelles1
April 24, 2007 3:23 p.m.

Who knew it could be that easy? Them are a lot of pills. She musta had a huge purse. How could this not be missed on inventory? Surely they have a simple program that tallies the daily drug total, if not I will be changing professions shortly.

strolling bones
April 22, 2007 7:57 p.m.

I am sorry-- but 27,000 pills missing-- is not a few today and a few tomorrow.

superman
April 22, 2007 10:33 a.m.

I understand that, I used to work at a local pharmacy. What I am saying is she probably didn't swipe 24,000 pills all at one time. She probably swiped a few here and a few there. And I am sure someone knew to begin with that pills were slowly going missing. But she probably wasn't the only person who worked there and the boss had to have time to find out who was doing it.