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SALT LAKE CITY — A woman convicted less than six months ago of stealing prescription medications has been arrested again and accused of taking an elderly woman’s much needed pain medication and replacing it with over-the-counter pills.
Rya Chalease Plumb, 27, of La Verkin, Washington County, was arrested Tuesday. On Wednesday, she was formally charged in 5th District Court with aggravated abuse of an elderly adult, a second-degree felony; drug possession, a class A misdemeanor; theft and failing to keep a controlled substance in its original container, class B misdemeanors.
The alleged victim is a 93-year-old woman.
“She advised Rya Plumb comes to visit her every two to three weeks. She stated Rya is a church member and that is why she comes to visit,” according to a police booking affidavit.
But when Plumb would visit, she would always go to the elderly woman's bathroom “as soon as she gets there,” according to the affidavit. In December, Plumb offered to get the elderly woman’s prescription filled for her.
Soon, the woman reported that her pills weren’t having the same effect as before.
“The victim stated the pills were working less and she keeps running out of them before she is due for a refill,” according to the affidavit. “The victim has been in so much pain that she has broke down crying.”
Police examined the pills that were in the bottle that was supposed to be filled with oxycodone and discovered “the pills were acetaminophen not oxycodone,” police wrote. Acetaminophen is over-the-counter pain relief, such as Tylenol.
The victim has been in so much pain that she has broke down crying.
–police booking affidavit
Police were told that the elderly woman “suffers from a painful condition that causes her to need the pain medications,” and contacted her doctor about what was happening. The doctor agreed to refill the prescription.
But after it was filled, Plumb called the woman to tell her she would pick up her prescription for her, even though the pharmacy said it would deliver it, according to the affidavit.
“Rya arrived at her home with the prescription. The victim was surprised that Rya was able to pick up her prescription. The victim’s friend called me and advised Rya had just delivered the pills. I advised them not to open them and I was on my way to the residence,” the arresting officer wrote.
When police examined the prescription bottle that Plumb had just dropped off, “there were 93 acetaminophen pills in the bottle and no oxycodone,” the booking report states.
Officers then went to Plumb’s home to question her, where she uttered at one point that she felt bad about what she had done, the affidavit says.
“Rya was sitting on the couch and told her husband she messed up again,” according to the affidavit. “Rya stated she is a horrible person.”
She then showed police where she was keeping 79 oxycodone pills in her bedroom, the affidavit says.
In July, Plumb pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and theft, taking a plea in abeyance. In that case, she broke into a home in the city of Washington and took a bottle of prescription medication, according to charging documents.
