Gary woman accused of fraud to get controlled substance

HOBART | A Gary woman became a regular at area hospital emergency rooms to obtain dozens of painkiller prescriptions, police said.

Keyonna Nicole Jones, 27, was charged through Lake Superior Court with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.

A physician at St. Mary Medical Center contacted police Detective Garrett Ciszewski regarding a regular patient at the emergency room he suspected was "doctor shopping" to get prescription medication, court documents state.

The patient, identified as Jones, had had 100 hydrocodone and oxycodone prescriptions filled between a one-year period from 34 different doctors and 10 different pharmacies, court documents state.

A doctor at St. Catherine's Hospital in East Chicago told Ciszewski that Jones had also come to the emergency room there on numerous occasions and usually asked for prescription painkillers.