Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Kia Latrice Booker, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced on Nov. 1, 2021 in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for obtaining promethazine with codeine by forging prescriptions. Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon sentenced Booker to 7 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.
Law enforcement investigated 11 fraudulent prescriptions of promethazine with codeine starting on July 7, 2018. During follow up with each pharmacy, Nebraska State Patrol investigators were able to identify a female, later identified as Booker, who used her Illinois identification card when she picked up the prescriptions of promethazine. Promethazine is cough syrup with codeine, an often-sought-after drug illegally sold without a prescription.
On July 12, 2018, Nebraska State Patrol investigators received a call from the Ogallala Police Department involving promethazine with codeine. The individuals involved in the Ogallala case were Booker and Chyneice Richie. Richie pleaded guilty to obtaining promethazine with codeine by forging prescriptions and is scheduled for sentencing in December, 2021.
Both Booker and Richie were seen on surveillance video obtaining promethazine with codeine using fake IDs.
This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Ogallala Police Department.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
