Joyce Crain
The president of Marco Island-based nonprofit Prescriptions 4 Hope was arrested again Thursday on 10 additional felony charges, accused of forging assistance applications to receive free medications and then selling them from her home.
Joyce Marie Crain, 62, of the 1500 block of Caxambas Court, first was arrested by Marco police on Aug. 1. She was accused of forgery, criminal use of personal identification and possession of a controlled substance.
Prescriptions 4 Hope was created to provide medications to poor or under-insured patients. Crain also operated a business under the fictitious corporation name Collier County Health Services, according to Marco police Assistant Chief Dave Baer.
In a November Daily News story, Crain said she was hoping for donations to keep her program operating because she could no longer self-fund it.
"With this nonprofit, every donated dollar reaps a 4,000 percent return on the investment," she said in November.
At the time of Crain's Aug. 1 arrest, police said the 62-year-old forged doctors' signatures, filled out fraudulent prescription assistance applications to obtain drugs for free and sold them to patients out of her home. At one point, Crain altered a city of Marco Island zoning form, altering her business classification.
A search of her home on Aug. 1 yielded $120,000 to $150,000 worth of nonscheduled prescription medications, forged prescriptions, a small amount of controlled substance medications and other incriminating documents, Baer said.
The new charges are four counts of trafficking or possessing a contraband drug, three counts of personal identification fraud, one count of trafficking or possessing contraband drugs, one count of dispensing a prescription without a license and one count of unlicensed practice of health care profession.
The more recent charges are the result of an ongoing investigation by Marco detectives, allied law enforcement and medical professionals, he said.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 5
KlausStoertebeker writes:
Has she Viagra in her program?
RayPray writes:
Joyce is a local humanitarian.
This witch hunt by the beetle-browed Marco Keystone Kops should be called off at once.
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marcoislander writes:
So much crime on Marco that they have to bring up headlines from over a month ago I think the police dept has their priorities mixed up What i would like to know is how many recorded thefts to how many solved
JohninMarco writes:
Solved is one thing, but the eye opener is the conviction rate vs arrests. It is so low that Hunter will not talk about it.
2themoon writes:
Kids are dying all over this country because of this pills, i approve the crackdown even though i believe we could do with onlythe sherriffs dept. patroling Marco.
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