Providence Woman Pleads Guilty In Forged Prescription Scheme

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Providence woman pleaded guilty in federal court to creating and using fake prescriptions to buy and distribute opioids. Tammy Bonham, 55, said she falsified records to take use the identities, Drug Enforcement Administration identification numbers and signatures of doctors without their consent.

Bonham and four others were arrested in November 2018. The accused ringleader of the operation, Robert Rose, was said to have run the operation from within the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston.

In court, Bonham admitted to using the fake prescriptions to buy oxycodone pills, most of which were sold to others for distribution. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possession with intent to distribute oxycodone and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24. The charges carry statutory penalties of up to 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.