A former employee of a Warsaw doctor's office faces charges after allegedly ordering prescription drugs while posing as an employee authorized to place the order.

Sylvia J. Gargett, 52, of 6977 E. Waco Drive, Syracuse, was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail Saturday night on two counts each of identity deception and attempting to obtain a controlled substance by fraud and one charge of attempted theft. All of the charges are Class D felony offenses, each punishable by up to three years in prison. Gargett was released from custody after posting a $2,000 bond.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Kosciusko Superior Court I, Gargett was employed by Dr. Roberta E. Rose, an orthopedic surgeon in Warsaw, from 1989 through 2000. Gargett worked as an assistant bookkeeper until she was terminated on July 27, 2000, for violation of office policies.

However, Gargett continued to come into the office to see her boyfriend, who was a bookkeeper there. Because of the disruptions Gargett allegedly caused at the business, William Edmundson was terminated Oct. 25, 2001, and both were banned from returning to the business.

The incident that led to the investigation reportedly took place in December.

Rose contacted authorities after learning that an order was placed on Dec. 28 with a New York drug company with whom she has business dealings. The order was for six containers of 500 tablets each of Hydrocodone 500 mg, two containers of 100 tablets each of Hydrocodone 650 mg, a 16-ounce bottle of Hydrocodone and Guaifan syrup and a 16-ounce bottle of APAP Elixir syrup - all controlled substances. The total amount for the order was $265.15 and was charged to Rose's office.

The package was to be delivered by United Parcel Service on Dec. 31 at the business. However, a call was received at the Bourbon UPS office that morning that the doctor's office was closed and the package should be diverted to a Warsaw residential address - that of an employee authorized to order medications. That employee was allegedly contacted by Gargett and told that a package would be delivered there and that she should allow the UPS driver to leave it on her porch.

That employee then contacted Rose, who intercepted the package by recontacting UPS and having it delivered to her office, where it was opened and inspected by Rose. The medications that were delivered were ordered without authorization by anybody at Rose's office, court documents indicate.

Records of Gargett's cellular telephone reportedly show that she placed a call to the Bourbon UPS office on Dec. 31.

Police do not know whether the controlled substance were for Gargett's personal use or if she was acquiring it for someone else. [[In-content Ad]]