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CHESTERTOWN---It's not game show host Monty Hall who's hollering "let's make a deal", in Warren County, it's Warren County Court Judge John S. Hall.
The judge is engaged in a rather bizarre situation of engaging in dueling deals with the Warren County District Attorney's office in the case of the employee of the Chestertown pharmacy who stole $100,000 in painkillers and then sold them on the black market.
Janice Jeremias, 54, pleaded guilty Wednesday to four felony charges and a misdemeanor in exchange for a likely sentence of 18 months in state prison.
Jeremias had refused a plea deal offered by the district attorney's office which would have included a 2 ½ year prison sentence, according to court records and instead took agreed to plead guilty to all of the charges lodged against her in an agreement in which Hall would sentence her to 1 ½ years in prison.
Jeremias, a four-year employee of Brooks Pharmacy; her husband, Gerald, 45, both of Stagecoach Road, Chestertown, and Jamie Myers, 28, of Selkirk were arrested May 19. Myers was to have begun a job with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The former pharmacy technician was facing up to 15 years in prison after being indicted on four felonies and a misdemeanor for allegedly stealing hydrocodone from the pharmacy over an 18-month period. She was charged with criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance, grand larceny and conspiracy.
Her husband has been indicted on charges of conspiracy, criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance.
The three were arrested as the result of an investigation conducted by the state Department of Health, Brooks Pharmacy and the Warren County District Attorney's office.
It is alleged Jeremias and her husband sold the hydrocodone pills to Myers for cash as well as in trade for cocaine.
According to the district attorney's office, the pharmacy contacted the Department of Health last year when they became aware that painkillers were missing from their inventory. Although polygraph tests were administered to each pharmacy employee, including Jeremias, all passed.
Even after that, the thefts continued and Brooks installed a surveillance system which reportedly captured Janice Jeremias pocketing pills. When she was confronted, she allegedly admitted that she was selling the pills to Myers for $3 to $4 each. According to investigators, in the week previous to their arrests, Myers had purchased 100 pills from Jeremias.
Investigators arrested Myers and Gerald Jeremias May 19 as they met at Northway Exit 23 in Warrensburg to trade the pills for cash and cocaine. All three have allegedly admitted their roles in the thefts.
Myers, who was facing up to 25 years in prison after being indicted for third and
fourth degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and fourth degree conspiracy, also refused a plea deal offered by the district attorney's office and instead pleaded guilty to a felony charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance as the result of a deal cut with Hall.
It's likely she will get a cushy sentence of six months in county jail rather than state prison followed by five years of probation which will include her participation in the county's drug court. The district attorney's office had sought a term in state prison for Myers but Hall decided otherwise.
Jeremias claims that she was stealing the drugs and selling them to Myers because Myers had told her she had cancer. Gerald Jeremias is allegedly addicted to cocaine and Myers would trade cocaine with the couple for painkillers.
Gerald Jeremias is scheduled to appear before Hall on Oct. 11. He's also been offered a plea deal. 9-29-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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