BY KEITH EPPS
A former real estate agent admitted stealing prescription drugs from a Stafford County home she was showing to potential buyers.
Heather J. Gay, 31, of King George pleaded guilty yesterday in Stafford Circuit Court to possessing drugs with the intent to distribute as an accommodation.
In court papers, Gay claimed that she stole Lorcet and Dilaudid last year in part to pacify her mother, who she said is addicted to pain medication.
Gay, who worked at Century 21 at the time, said she hoped the drugs would improve her mother's behavior toward Gay's two small children. Gay and the children were living with her mother at the time.
The drug conviction carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Gay also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors, petty larceny and unlawful entry. She is free on bond and will be sentenced Nov. 2.
According to evidence presented by prosecutor George Elsasser, Gay stole 56 Lorcet pills and 18 Dilaudid tablets from a home in southern Stafford. Elsasser said Gay used an electronic lock box to enter the home on Oct. 31 and Nov. 3. She was the only real estate agent there those days--the days the pills turned up missing.
The homeowners called police after pills were taken from plain view Oct. 31. They then hid the pills in a drawer, Elsasser said, but pills were missing again after Gay's Nov. 3 visit.
Detective Shawn Efimenco went to Gay and eventually got a statement that included claims about her mother's drinking and drug problems. She told police that her mother is much easier to live with when she's on drugs. She also claimed she once caught her mother stealing pain medication from her dying grandfather.
According to the statement, Gay said she didn't go to the home intending to steal but got the idea after one of her clients opened a cabinet and made a comment about the amount of pain medication there.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404