Hudson County sheriff's officer who lives in Jersey City indicted

Published: Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 3:00 AM
By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal

A Hudson County sheriff?s officer has been indicted on charges she forged a prescription and tried to use it to buy painkillers, officials said yesterday.

Frances Marcano, 39, of Jersey Avenue in Jersey City, was originally arrested at her home in November on the charge of forgery, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Pete Stoma said.

Last month, a grand jury indicted Marcano on the charges of obtaining drugs by fraud, obtaining prescription drugs by fraud and uttering a forged instrument, according to the indictment.

The most serious count carries a possible sentence of three to five years in prison, although a first-time offender is likely to get probation.

Marcano allegedly added Percocet to a prescription written by her doctor for a another medication and tried to fill the prescription at a Jersey City pharmacy, Stoma said.

The pharmacist became suspicious and called the doctor who wrote the prescription, Stoma said.

Marcano walked out of the pharmacy, but the matter was investigated by Jersey City police and the Hudson County Sheriff?s Office Internal Affairs Unit, leading to her arrest last Nov. 2, Stoma said.

Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari said Marcano has been suspended without pay.