Pair jailed for selling father's medication

MOSES LAKE - Two Moses Lake residents were jailed on suspicion of selling morphine prescribed for the ailing father of one of them. ?

Grant County’s Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team and Moses Lake Police officers served a search warrant at 714 South Michael Street in Moses Lake on Nov. 5. The warrant concluded a month-long investigation of the distribution of injectable pharmaceutical grade liquid morphine. ?

The INET arrested Susan K. Franks, 44, and Danny W. Stotts, 44, on suspicion of conspiracy to deliver morphine and possession with intent to sell morphine in a school zone. Franks was serving as the caregiver for her sickly 83-year-old father, to whom the Morphine was originally prescribed, Sheriff Tom Jones said. ?

The Michael Street home is within 500 feet of Peninsula Elementary School, leading detectives to file the school zone enhancement charges. If convicted, the school zone enhancement would carry a mandatory two year-prison sentence. ?

The INET partnered with state Department of Health Pharmacy Investigators, the Moses Lake Fire Department, local nurses and medical staff during the investigation and raid to ensure the safety of Franks’ father. ?

“I am very disturbed by this crime, and I applaud all the investigators, firefighters, nurses and other healthcare workers who focused on protecting Franks’ father and helped protect him from further exploitation,” Jones said.