Courthouse watch: 6.5.09
A Spokane man who stole prescription drug patches from nursing homes to get high will spend eight months in prison.
Cory R. Morse, 22, (right) will begin his sentence June 10, Judge Maryann Moreno ruled today.
Morse and his girlfriend, Lacey B. Sell, 20, were arrested in January after a three-week investigation into missing Fentanyl patches from adult care facilities.
Police alleged the two stole patches from the bodies of more than a dozen people. Fentanyl is used to treat chronic pain; Morse said he squeezed gel out of the patches and smoked it to get high.
Morse pleaded guilty this week to burglary charges related to that case, as well as manufacturing a controlled substance for 15 marijuana plants police found when they raided his house in the 2110 block of West Mission.
Moreno sentenced him to six months for the marijuana plants and eight months for the burglary; he'll serve the sentences concurrently.
Read a story on his arrest and listen to clips of him talking in the Spokane County Jail here.
Sell's trial is scheduled for July 20.
Other suspects on today's Spokane County Superior Court docket included a trio of accused robbers.
Zachary T. Allen, 19, Kimberley A. Norman, 20, and Nathan K. Webb, 25, each had pre-trial conferences scheduled before Moreno. Allen and Norman are accused ofa month-long robbery spree that police say was driven by OxyContin addiction.
Police say Allen used a black gun later identifried as a BB gun and wore a black ski mask during eight robberies at conveince stores, cash stores, and one pharmacy.
Norman is accused of being his getaway driver in seven robberies; Webb is accused of driving the getaway car once.
Read a story on Allen and Norman's Feb 6 arrest here. Read a story on the three pleading innocent in March here.
Norman and Webb are free on bond; Allen is being held in Spokane County Jail on $200,000 bond.