NURSE GIVEN PRISON TIME FOR BOGUS PRESCRIPTIONS

JACKSON, Mo. -- A licensed nurse was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for falsifying prescriptions to feed her addiction to pain pills.

Lori Ann Ennis, 34, of Ozark, Mo., was in a drug rehabilitation center in Cape Girardeau when she was caught fraudulently obtaining prescriptions at local pharmacies in June. The rehab program was part of a previous criminal sentence for the same type of crime.

On Wednesday Ennis pleaded guilty to three felony counts of fraudulently obtaining controlled substances. Six other counts were dismissed.

"It just shows how addictive these drugs can be when you have a nurse hooked so badly she's breaking the law," said Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney.

Defense attorney Alan Moss said it isn't unusual for people with access to prescription medication to become addicted.

Ennis admitted she was addicted to hydrocodone, a pain medication prescribed for everything from dental procedures to back aches. She did not reveal how she became addicted to the pills.

In March 1999, Ennis was caught forging prescriptions in Springfield, Mo., where she worked as a nurse. She pleaded guilty and was given a five-year suspended imposition of sentence and placed on probation

Her probation was revoked last spring because she was unable to remain drug free. Ennis served 30 days in jail and was sent to the rehabilitation program at the Family Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau.

Drug rehab patients like Ennis are allowed to leave the center. Officials became suspicious and demanded a drug urine test.

Ennis delayed the test by claiming she was unable to urinate and obtained a sample of urine from someone else in order to pass the test.