| For Immediate Release Case # 12NM01243 June 14, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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CHP OFFICER CONVICTED OF POSSESSING BLANK PRESCRIPTION FORMS TO TAKE PAID MEDICAL
TIME OFF FROM WORK
FULLERTON – A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer was convicted yesterday of possessing blank prescription forms and using them to take paid medical time off from work. Deborah Therese Sparso, 46, Anaheim Hills, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of manufacturing, copying or reproducing false prescription blank forms. She was sentenced to two years of informal probation, 10 days of community service, and ordered to pay over $5,000 in restitution.
Between Sept. 15, 2008, and April 15, 2011, Sparso possessed blank prescription forms while working as a CHP officer in Westminster. Sparso used the blank forms to take excused, paid time off from work and received over $11,000 from the agency.
The doctor whose name is on the prescription did not write the note or authorized anyone to write the note.
Senior Deputy District Attorney John Christl of the Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case.
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