Two plead guilty in fake drugs case

Talk about it

Two Dickinson residents accused of stealing imitation prescriptions in October pleaded guilty as part of a negotiation at their pretrial conference Tuesday afternoon.

If Donald Schermerhorn, 25, and Dena Winch, 25, abide by conditions set by the court, such as three years supervised probation, the charges will be dismissed.

Authorities discovered the theft by monitoring employees at a Dickinson hotel where they worked, said Stark County State’s Attorney Tom Henning after the hearing.

“They were suspecting that people were rifling through the belongings of people in the motel,” Henning said. “They had some thefts from some rooms and some thefts from employees.”

Authorities reportedly placed imitation Oxycontin and Tramadol — both pain relievers — in a hotel room.

“They left these bottles in this room and put in a surveillance camera disguised as an alarm clock,” Henning said.

The pair was originally charged with attempted possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, but their charges were lowered.

“Since they weren’t delivering to anybody but each other, we let it go at possession at the persuasion of their defense counsel,” Henning said.

Winch completed drug treatment and Schermerhorn was ordered to complete a drug-treatment program.

Kelly Armstrong, Schermerhorn’s attorney, said he thought the court’s treatment of the matter was fitting.

“It was a first offense for a prescription drug charge. I think it’s fair,” Armstrong said.

Jay Greenwood, Winch’s attorney, was unavailable for comment after the hearing.

Tags: news, local, drugs, prescription, guilty