MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Murfreesboro police have arrested three people in connection with a prescription drug ring specializing in what street dealers call "hillbilly heroin." Joseph Freels along with father and son, Horace and Kenneth Laster, have been charged with prescription fraud.
The three men are accused of stealing a prescription pad from a doctor's office and forging more than one hundred prescriptions for thousands of roxicodone pills over the past year.
The Lasters both have a history of public service. Horace is a retired Metro firefighter. His son Kenneth worked at one time for the La Vergne Fire Department.
"This is the largest prescription drug fraud case Murfreesboro detectives have ever worked," said Kyle Evan, police spokesperson.
Police had warned area pharmacists to watch for prescriptions from a specific doctor.
"Someone had stolen his prescription pad. We were all alerted to that," said Chad Mill's with Mill's Pharmacy in Murfreesboro.
Mills added a tip from another pharmacist led to the arrests of Freels and the two Lasters.
Each pill can sell for up to $25 on the street.
Kenneth Laster said there is another side of the story, but declined to elaborate.
Murfreesboro Vice detectives said there could be more arrests.
By most accounts this type of fraud is on the increase nationally. In fact, Tennessee ranks number two among states for prescription drug abuse.
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