FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 16, 2015
Contact: Heather F. Williamson
Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office
20 East Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176-2809
(703) 777-0242
JURY FINDS MARYLAND MAN GUILTY IN PRESCRIPTION FRAUD CASES
JURY FIXES PRISON SENTENCE AT 15 YEARS
LEESBURG, Virginia – A Loudoun County jury deliberated until nearly 10 p.m., on Wednesday, June 10 before concluding the case of Jether M. Jones III. Jones was being tried on charges stemming from of a series of transactions in a prescription fraud scheme. Jones faced three counts: uttering a forged prescription, prescription fraud, and possession of heroin. The jury fixed the punishment at fifteen years in prison.
In June 2014, a Detective with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office was conducting an unrelated prescription fraud investigation at a local pharmacy when Jones approached the pharmacy counter and presented a prescription for Oxycodone to the pharmacist technician. The Detective recognized Jones as a suspect from a surveillance video from another prescription fraud incident in Loudoun County involving an organized prescription fraud ring. The pharmacy technician delayed Jones by advising him that it would be at least thirty minutes before his prescription would be ready for pick-up. While Jones waited, law enforcement contacted the prescribing doctor in Baltimore and the doctor confirmed that Jones was not a patient and that he had not written the prescription provided to the pharmacy. The technician declined to fill the prescription and advised Jones that it would need to be verified with the prescribing physician. Jones exited the store and entered a vehicle in the parking lot with two other passengers. The vehicle drove away but was subsequently stopped by sheriff’s deputies where Jones was arrested. He has remained incarcerated since that time.
The jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for less than thirty minutes.
During the sentencing phase of the trial, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Russet W. Perry presented the jury with evidence of Jones’ prior criminal record which included convictions for murder and assault in Baltimore, Maryland, terroristic threats in New Jersey, and numerous convictions for possession of drugs and prescription fraud in Maryland.
"On its surface, these crimes seemed fairly routine," said Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Plowman. "However, Ms. Perry was able to dig into Mr. Jone's past and obtain previously unknown documentation about his violent history. This included making several trips to courthouses in neighboring states to secure official court records, which undoubtedly gave the jury a more clear picture of Mr. Jones and ample justification to fix the 15 year prison term." Jones' criminal history spans over 40 years.
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