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Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office employee arrested on narcotics charge

by Minden Press-Herald

Wedgeworth

Wedgeworth

A Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office employee has been terminated following her arrest for reportedly attempting to coerce another employee to illegally buy prescription narcotics for her.

Sheriff Gary Sexton says Amanda L. Wedgeworth, 38, of the 1,000 block of Yellow Pine Road in Sibley, was arrested for obtaining Schedule II CDS by fraud and malfeasance in office. Bond was set at $5,000.

“We’re not going to treat her differently than anybody else,” he said. “Mandy has had a problem, and we suggested that she has a problem and she’s pretty well denied it.”

He says it wasn’t until Wednesday that she’d put herself into a vulnerable spot. A fellow employee contacted detectives Lt. Scott Tucker, Deputy Jennifer Ervin and Major Dustin Reynolds and told them Wedgeworth made an approach to obtain pain medication for her.

According to the police report, the employee, that Wedgeworth supervised, was asked by Wedgeworth to contact someone else to see if they could obtain pain medication.

Detectives then had that employee contact Wedgeworth to say some pills had been located for her. The detectives then provided 24 hydrocodone pills. The employee took photographs and sent them to Wedgeworth who then replied she would pay her back and give her some hours on her timesheet, the sheriff said.

Detectives say Wedgeworth admitted she has a substance abuse problem and admitted to arranging to buy the pills.

“Our hope for Mandy is to get into a rehab program and get straightened out,” Sexton said. “Our concerns are with her health and the habits that she’s got. We hope for the best, but it’s up to her. Some of our employees and some other agencies are looking for a rehab center to get her into. You hate to see it happen to one of your employees, but we’re no better than anybody else, and we police our own people just like we do the public.”

Wedgeworth was a lieutenant in the communications office.

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