Pharmacist pleads guilty, avoids jail with probation | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Said to have cooperated with continuing investigation

    Heather Tetterton, formerly a pharmacist at Tayloe's Hospital Pharmacy in Washington copped a plea in Beaufort Superior Court Tuesday (10-4-11), just hours before she was scheduled to go on trial Thursday in a drug case that is expected to have more far reaching effects. She was sentenced, as per the agreement, to six to eight months in jail but the jail time was suspended on the condition that she serve community service and remain on supervised probation for two years. Sources told the Observer that the plea was a result of her not having had a prior conviction. The charges were two felonies for intent to sell and possession of "Scheduled III controlled substance."

    Sources who decline to be identified told the Observer that the charges stemmed from an investigation by local law enforcement and the State Bureau of Investigation. Seth Edwards, District Attorney for the Second Judicial District earlier told the Observer that the case had been turned over to an out-of-county prosecutor because of the connections the initial investigation revealed.

    Other sources tell us that those other connections involve local law enforcement officials but no charges had been brought against anyone else to Edwards' knowledge in a recent interview before the Tetterton plea. Edwards stated that he was not knowledgeable of the details of the special prosecutor's action or intended actions in the case. It is our understanding from several sources that the investigation is continuing by both SBI and Federal officials.

    Speculation, of course, ramped up Tuesday that Tetterton had cooperated with the investigations and that is why the special prosecutor accepted the plea arrangement. The sentence was dictated by the structured sentencing guidelines of the state. The plea was presented to Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons who accepted the deal worked out between Tetterton's attorney and the prosecutor. Her attorney told the judge that she "had cooperated fully with the investigation" meaning to some observers that other charges would thus be forthcoming of other local officials. Officials refused to confirm or deny whether Tetterton had testified before a Grand Jury either in Beaufort or in Lenoir County.

    Tetterton has lost her pharmacist license.

    Check back later. We expect there to be more news from this case now that Tetterton has struck her deal.