LEE SHERIFF'S DEPUTY'S WIFE CHARGED WITH FRAUD IN PRESCRIPTION DRUG CASE

A Lee County sheriff's deputy noticed in December that someone was filling
prescriptions under his insurance card, some for the deadly narcotic Oxycodone.

He thought someone might fraudulently have been using his card to buy it
and other drugs at pharmacies throughout Lee County. He was right. But
detectives say the culprit is his new wife.

Mandy Lynn Harter, 29, of Cape Coral, was arrested and charged Wednesday
with 36 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and eight
counts of obtaining a legend drug by fraud. According to sheriff's reports,
she received 55 prescriptions between Nov. 1, 2003, and this month, and
that 46 of them were for Oxycodone.

The couple married last month, and Mandy Fletcher became Mandy Harter and
was added to the deputy's insurance plan Jan. 7, sheriff's reports said.

The Sheriff's Office would not comment on how Harter obtained her husband's
insurance card before their wedding.

But it was Doug Harter who brought the prescription drug discrepancies to
the Sheriff's Office's risk management department for investigation,
spokeswoman Ileana LiMarzi said Thursday.

"I think he saw a bunch of prescriptions were being filled," LiMarzi said.
"I don't think he had any clue it was his wife."

Oxycodone is used to make OxyContin. Oxycodone is a pain reliever, can be
habit-forming, and may result in death if patients overdose.

A legend drug is a drug that only may be obtained by prescription. Its
label reads: "Caution: federal law prohibits dispensing without a
prescription." LiMarzi said she didn't know which drug or drugs netted this
charge, and Capt. Dominick Ferrante refused to comment on which legend drug
or drugs were bought.

Ferrante and LiMarzi declined further comment on the case.

A call was placed to the Harters' home Thursday, but a recorded message
said the line was disconnected. The Harters could not be reached for comment.

Harter was released from the Lee County jail at 8:57 p.m. Wednesday after
posting 10 percent of her $58,000 bond, jail staff said. An arraignment
date has not been set.

A doctor with a sports medicine practice in Fort Myers told investigators
that Mandy Harter was a patient in October 2003, but he hadn't seen her since.

"Some of the prescription forms appeared to be forms that had been used in
the past ... and may have been stolen forms that were subsequently forged,"
sheriff's reports said.

Some of the Oxycodone prescriptions were in Doug Harter's name while others
were in his wife's. According to the sheriff's report, pharmacists at a
Fort Myers Walgreens, a Cape Coral Albertson's, Webb's Fort Myers
Prescription Shop, a Cape Coral K-mart, and a Cape Coral Walgreens filled
prescriptions for Mandy Harter. One pharmacist told investigators that
Harter told him she is a lawyer and he planned to participate in a
fund-raiser for her, sheriff's reports said.

Emilie Rietow, a spokeswoman for the Florida Bar, said Harter is not
licensed as a lawyer in Florida under her maiden or married names. Lawyers
must be licensed through the bar to practice legally here.

"If she's holding herself out as an attorney, that's a third-degree
felony," Rietow said. "It's a pretty big deal."

A lawyer named Mandy Harter or Mandy Fletcher could not be located in Lee
County.