Meijer pharmacy employee accused of giving customer's pain meds to a friend
Feb. 24—URBANA — A pharmacy technician for a Champaign business who allegedly took pain medication from a customer's prescription and gave it to an acquaintance has been criminally charged.
Latanya D. Blount, 24, was arraigned Wednesday for delivery of a controlled substance on Jan. 9 and possession of a controlled substance on Feb. 7.
A Champaign police report said that in January, a woman reported that someone else had picked up her prescription for oxycodone at Meijer, 2401 N. Prospect Ave., C, on Jan. 9 without her permission or knowledge.
Surveillance video showed that Blount was working the drive-thru window that day, had a brief conversation with the customer, then immediately retrieved the woman's order without having to look for it.
As she returned to the window, she pulled one of two pill bottles from the bag and gave the bag to the person in the drive-thru without seeking identification.
The woman for whom the prescription was intended reported that her oxycodone was missing from her order when she got it later.
Police learned the identity of the man who picked up the order and, in a Feb. 7 court-authorized search of Blount's apartment in the 300 block of South Prairie Street in Champaign, found several prescription bottles and mail belonging to him.
They also found fraudulent identification with Blount's photo on it and seven pills containing codeine.
Blount was released on her own recognizance and told to return to court April 25.
If convicted of the more serious of the charges, she faces penalties ranging from probation to three to seven years in prison. Court records show she had no previous convictions.
