Trooper charged with drug fraud

Raleigh, N.C. — A state Highway Patrol trooper has been charged with prescription drug fraud, authorities said.

First Sgt. William Pete Wheeler Jr., 35,was charged with two counts of obtaining controlled substances by legal prescriptions by withholding information.

Warrants allege that Wheeler obtained a prescription for the painkiller hydrocodone in January from a physician but never told the doctor that he planned to see his primary-care physician a few days later. He also is accused of filling a hydrocodone prescription at a Cary pharmacy and then telling his doctor's office that the pharmacy was out of the drug and asking the office to phone in a prescription to second pharmacy.

Wheeler, who has been with the Highway Patrol since February 1998, works at the agency's training academy. He has been placed on leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.