Nurse, boyfriend face criminal prescription drug charges

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Stoddard County nurse and her boyfriend are behind bars following an investigation into illegally obtained prescriptions, the Daily Statesman newspaper reported.

Dawn Coffee, 30, of Advance, is charged with the Class D felony of fraudulently attempting to obtain a controlled substance. The charge carries with it a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Coffee was arrested on Jan. 23 and immediately bonded out on a $15,000 cash-only bond.

Her boyfriend, Shane Umfleet, 33, of Advance, was arrested on Jan. 25 and charged with the Class D felony of fraudulently attempting to obtain a controlled substance.

According to court documents, on Jan. 5, Coffee worked as a nurse at a local clinic and had called in a prescription for hydrocodone in Umfleet's name that she was not authorized to order.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed by Stoddard County Sheriff's Deputy and SEMO Drug Task Force officer Keith Haynes, Umfleet paid for the prescription by personal check on an account that had been closed.

Haynes said in an interview this week while charges have been charged in Stoddard County, further charges may be filed later against the couple in Cape Girardeau County for similar incidents.

Coffee and Umfleet appeared last week for a preliminary hearing and were bound over to stand trial before Judge Stephen Sharp. They are scheduled to appear for arraignment on March 17.