Kristin Schulmeister, Williamson County Jail mug
WILLIAMSON CO., Ill. - A Williamson County grand jury has issued true bills of indictment against a Carterville pharmacist, who has not had an active license to practice since 2011.
The 12-count indictment charges Kristin A. Schulmeister, owner of Tri-C Medical Pharmacy on Division Street in Carterville, with several felony counts of unlawfully obtaining possession of a controlled substance, one of which is Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance; three charges are misdemeanors regarding practicing without a license.
Schulmeister's registered pharmacist license was suspended in October of 2011 after "improperly transferring a prescription for a patient," in which she "failed to notify the public of the absence of a pharmacist when a pharmacist was not present, and failed to secure controlled substances," this according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation website.
The same site shows that she was reprimanded, as a pharmacist-in-charge of a pharmacy that operated for two months on an expired Illinois controlled substance license and other violations, in November of 2009.
The Tri-C Pharmacy was shut down over the summer while the investigation into her operations without a license was ongoing.
Why Schulmeister continued to work for so long without renewing her license - and thus, as Williamson County prosecutor Brandon Zanotti told the public, placing patients at risk - is unknown.
Elisa Kirkpatrick, Williamson County mugshot
However, she's not the first professional, licensed individual in Williamson to be doing so; Elisa Kirkpatrick, a former veterinarian, was busted earlier this year for the very same thing: practicing without a license.
There's been no indication in published reports of when Schulmeister, who was arrested Thursday, Nov. 19, will next be in court. Grand jury indictments preclude preliminary hearings, so she'll go right to arraignments on the charges.