Tateum Richardson

A Minot man was sentenced to serve nine days in Ward County Jail after pleading guilty to using forged prescriptions to purchase controlled substances at pharmacies in Minot and Bismarck.

Tateum Sterling Richardson, 25, Minot, was scheduled for a jury trial in January, but entered a change of plea Tuesday in North Central District Court. Richardson pleaded guilty to two counts of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation or fraud, a Class C felony, and a Class A felony count of possession of a schedule II opiate controlled substance. Pursuant to a plea agreement, one count of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation or fraud and two Class A misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance were dismissed.

According to court documents, Richardson was charged after a Bureau of Criminal Investigation investigation found he and co-defendant Stephanie Rae Rogers, 27, Minot, used forged prescriptions at two Minot pharmacies and one in Bismarck.

The forged prescriptions listed the issuer as a pediatrician with the 5th Medical Group at Minot Air Force Base and read “empty” watermarks when copied and scanned as evidence. The prescription provider confirmed with investigators that the hand-dispensed prescriptions were fraudulent and counterfeit. Richardson was later identified in security footage providing the forged documents to purchase oxycodone and promethazine tablets with codeine syrup.

Judge Gary Lee ordered Richardson to serve a concurrent sentence of 360 days in the Ward County Jail, to be served first with credit for nine days already served. The felony charges will be considered misdemeanors upon Richardson’s completion of two years of supervised probation.

Richardson was also ordered to complete a chemical dependency evaluation and pay $1,100 in fines and court fees.

Rogers also changed her plea to guilty for her role in the scheme on Oct. 9, pleading guilty to a Class C misdemeanor count of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation or fraud and possession of a Class V depressant, a Class V felony A. Lee sentenced Rogers to a five-year suspended sentence with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and two years of supervised probation.