Sen. Dawson facing arrest over altered prescription for painkillers
By Buddy Nevins and Linda Kleindienst
sun-sentinel.com
Posted October 10 2002, 3:30 PM EDT
TALLAHASSEE -- An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday night for state Sen. Mandy Dawson, D-Fort Lauderdale, on a prescription drug fraud charge, police said.
In a prepared release, Tallahassee police Chief Walter McNeil said the 46-year-old senator was charged with obtaining and attempting to obtain the painkiller Lorcet-10, a controlled substance, by fraud, a third-degree felony. The warrant was signed by a Tallahassee judge Wednesday night.
Dawson, who is up for re-election on Nov. 5 against independent Fred Segal, is expected to turn herself in to police soon, although neither a time nor place was announced.
Here is what police said happened that lead to the charge against Dawson, who was arrested under her real name of Muriel Amanda Dawson:
A woman entered the Publix Pharmacy on Capital Circle Northeast around 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4th. She gave the pharmacist at the counter a prescription for 160 tablets of Lorcet-10. The woman identified herself as Sen. Mandy Dawson and asked to receive only 100 of the tablets at that time, explaining she was going to Africa and didn’t want a problem with U.S. Customs. The prescription was filled as requested and she left the store.
But the pharmacist was suspicious because of the large number of pills prescribed and eventually decided to call the Fort Lauderdale doctor who had written the order. When reached, the doctor said he had written a prescription for Dawson, but said it was for just 60 Lorcet tablets – not 160. He also said the prescription should have been dated Oct. 1 and not Oct. 4. When the conversation was completed, the pharmacist hung up and called police.
Two days later, a woman called the same pharmacy around 4:50 p.m. and asked for the remaining 60 tablets on the Dawson prescription. Another pharmacist took the order and while the woman was on hold called police.
A short time later, Dawson arrived to pick up the pills and was told there was problem with the prescription. She was detained by police. At that point, the police statement says Dawson threatened to “call Chief McNeil” and told officers she could not go to jail because of her job. She asked to speak to a supervisor.
A supervisor was called in and Dawson waived her rights. She denied altering the prescription, but said she took Lorcet for migraine headaches and for back problems.
On Oct. 8th, witnesses were given a photo lineup and they identified Dawson as the woman who came to the pharmacy twice for painkillers.
Dawson easily beat challengers Corey Alston and A. Tarkan Ocal in the Sept. 10th Democratic primary, gaining more than 60 percent of the vote. Her district represents District 29, which stretches from central Broward County to northern Palm Beach County, mostly along both sides of Interstate 95.
Her victory came despite criticism of her repeated absences from the Senate and the revelation she had erroneously claimed a degree from Florida A&M University on her résumé.
Dawson conceded she did not correct newspaper stories, legislative publications and résumés containing the false information about the degree. She said that someone else made the original mistake and that the error was irrelevant to the voters of her district.
She also had an explanation for her absences after Alston attacked her for missing more than 400 votes. She blamed them on migraine headaches, back surgery and the struggle of trying to raise three children as a single mother.
Two years ago, in a highly unusual move, Senate President Toni Jennings sharply chastised Dawson publicly for being two hours late to a session and missing 14 votes. Records show she missed eight of 22 committee meetings in the first half of the 2000 legislative session.
In 2001, as chairwoman of the Broward Legislative Delegation, Dawson's repeated absences kept other Broward legislators and residents waiting. This year, Dawson missed a major part of the two-month session because of back surgery.
A former welfare mother who has become a leader in the political community, Dawson was a legislative aide in Tallahassee for four years before winning a seat in the state House in 1992.
Six years later, she beat incumbent Matt Meadows, D-Lauderhill, for a seat in the Senate. Her major supporter in that race was U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, and his Broward political operative, Art Kennedy.
Kennedy on Wednesday said he was shocked by news of the police investigation.
Sen. Ron Klein, D-Delray Beach, the incoming Senate Democratic leader, said he had heard rumors about the investigation and tried to reach Dawson a couple of days ago. He said he had not heard back from her.
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