Fake Prescription from Stolen Pad Exposes Scheme

Eight individuals have been arrested for their involvement in an organized prescription fraud scheme in Texas.

Investigators uncovered the scheme operating in El Paso, Texas, after following a lead on a physician’s stolen prescription pad. The suspects arrested in connection to the operation allegedly used scripts belonging to Dr. Hector Lopez to obtain prescription pain medication.

One of the suspects used the fake scripts at a Walgreens Pharmacy and Medicine Shoppe in El Paso. The suspect attempted to pass off the fake prescription from the pad belonging to Dr. Hector Lopez in order to obtain hydrocodone. Pharmacy technician Juan Sandoval recognized that the physician’s signature did not look familiar, and after comparing the signature with other prescriptions and calling the physician’s office, he confirmed that the prescription was fake.

The suspect left the pharmacy without any pain medications, but the pharmacy kept the prescription and turned it in to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for further investigation.

DPS investigators identified the suspect who used the fake prescription as Laura Llynn. The Texas State Board of Pharmacy has taken over monitoring the situation while the DPS continues to investigate.

The investigation has led to the following individuals’ arrests in connection to the prescription fraud scheme:

• Dr. Harold Morris Block, Jr, 78
• Emanuel Cardenas-Valle, 21
• Crystal Yvette Gomez, 30
• Charles Ethan Milner, 22
• Laura Lynn Waller, 29
• Alfonso Gil III, 36
• Elizabeth Alaniz Fattorini, 47
• Gustavo Gutierrez, 55

All of the individuals were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and possession of controlled substances by fraud.