Armed Robbery Suspect, Four Other Easton Residents Named As Alleged Prescription Drug Ring Members

Nine Pennsylvania residents, including recently apprehended armed robbery suspect Kenneth Ennis and four other Easton residents, have been charged with various offenses related to their alleged participation in a prescription drug ring that operated throughout the Lehigh Valley.

An investigation into the alleged ring was launched after the state Attorney General's office received a complaint from a Northampton County doctor claiming that someone from his office had stolen prescription pads and was using them without authorization, according to a press release issued by state Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

Authorities say Alison Monfre, who worked at the Easton doctor's office, wrote multiple prescriptions for oxycodone and signed the doctor's name without his knowledge.

Monfre's boyfriend, Jamarcus Fennell, allegedly then sold the forged prescriptions to acquaintances and also occasionally sold pills from filled scripts on the street. Fennell was committed to Northampton County Prison last summer after being apprehended on four warrants for his arrest and failing to post bail on a wide array of charges, ranging from the delivery of heroin to theft and assault.

Law enforcement agents ran the doctor's DEA registration number and received a Schedule II Report for 2013, which revealed that a total of eight prescriptions were written for seven different people. None of the individuals listed in the report were patients of the doctor, the Attorney General's office said, adding that throughout the course of the investigation nine prescriptions were filled for 840 (15 mg) oxycodone tablets and 180 (30 mg) oxycodone tablets.

Those charged were:
 
Kenneth Ennis, 25, of the 200 block of West Nesquehoning Street, is charged with nine counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, nine counts of identity theft, one count of criminal conspiracy, one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of corrupt organizations.

 
Jamarcus Fennell, 23, formerly of the 400 block of Church Street in Easton but currently incarcerated in the Northampton County Prison, is charged with of nine counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, nine counts of identity theft, five counts of receiving stolen property, one count of criminal conspiracy, one count of corrupt organizations and one count of possession of a controlled substance.

 
Carl Brown III, 23, of the 700 block of Davis Street, is charged with nine counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, nine counts of identity theft, one count of criminal conspiracy, one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of corrupt organizations.
 
 
Shawn McAvoy, 19, of the 500 block of Valley Avenue, is charged with nine counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, nine counts of identity theft, one count of criminal conspiracy, one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of corrupt organizations. 

 
Mercedes Werkheiser, 21, of the 100 block of North Seventh Street, is charged with nine counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, nine counts of identity theft, one count of criminal conspiracy, one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of corrupt organizations.

Alison Monfre, 33, of the 100 block of Fell Street, Summit Hill, Carbon County, is charged with 13 counts of theft by unlawful taking, nine counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, nine counts of identity theft, one count of criminal conspiracy and one count of corrupt organizations.

  

Barbara Monfre, 61, of the 100 block of West Fell Street, Summit Hill, Carbon County, is charged with nine counts of identity theft, eight counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, one count of criminal conspiracy, one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of corrupt organizations.


Terrisa Grube, 42, of Bethlehem, is charged with nine counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, nine counts of identity theft, one count of criminal conspiracy, one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of corrupt organizations.
 
 
Lataryn Smith, 21, of Allentown,is charged with nine counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, nine counts of identity theft, one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of corrupt organizations.




"In Pennsylvania, there is a direct link between prescription drug abuse and heroin use," Attorney General Kane said. "That is because prescription drug dependency is expensive to maintain, so abusers ultimately turn to heroin as a cheaper, purer, more available alternative."