The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN was ordered yesterday to pay a $2,500 fine or face six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services for prescription fraud. Tietchka Vanderpool-Wallace, 54, was fined $500 each for attempting to commit fraud by false pretence, forgery, unlawful possession and two counts of being in possession of a forged document.

Last week, Vanderpool-Wallace, wife of former Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, pleaded guilty to all the charges brought against her.

At the time, her defence attorney, Tonique Lewis, told Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans that Vanderpool-Wallace struggled with mental health issues.

This resulted in Magistrate Vogt-Evans giving the defence the opportunity to provide Vanderpool-Wallace’s medical records before passing down a sentence.

Yesterday, Vanderpool-Wallace’s legal team, headed by Wayne Munroe, told Magistrate Vogt-Evans that his client’s medical report revealed a history of narcotic abuse, specifically painkillers.

He also noted the report “set out” incidents in Vanderpool-Wallace’s life in the past three years which exacerbated her condition.

Urging the judge to consider the offender and the offence, he also said there were crimes that affected others like selling drugs and other offences where the offender only sought drugs for personal use.

He added a psychiatrist had “set out” Vanderpool-Wallace as vulnerable and in need of assistance and asked Magistrate Vogt-Evans to consider a non-custodial sentence with a medical treatment component.

He insisted it was unfortunate Vanderpool-Wallace was in the situation she was now in because of human weakness.

In response, Magistrate Vogt-Evans noted the psychiatric report, written by Dr Nelson Clarke, indicated Vanderpool-Wallace took pain medication to relieve severe pain from an injury.

According to the report, Vanderpool-Wallace became dependent on the pain medication and developed a tolerance for it, causing her to require larger doses.

As a result, efforts to discontinue the medication caused Vanderpool-Wallace to develop severe depression.

Still, Magistrate Vogt-Evans said the report indicated that Vanderpool-Wallace was clinically stable for four months with moderate symptoms of depression.

She also said the document confirmed the defendant was stable at the time she committed the offence.

Magistrate Vogt-Evans said while the report helped the court to understand the circumstances behind Vanderpool-Wallace committing the offence, it did not excuse why the defendant took a Princess Margaret Hospital prescription pad and filled a prescription.

She told Vanderpool-Wallace the court accepted the guilty pleas and encouraged her to ask God to help her through her situation.

Members of Vanderpool-Wallace’s family, including Mr Vanderpool-Wallace, were in court to support her yesterday.