MOUNT VERNON –Terry Jacobs, 43, and Heather Jacobs, 38, of Mount Vernon were sentenced Friday in Knox County Common Pleas Court, bringing to an end the prosecutions of 12 co-defendants charged with running a prescription pill operation. According to Prosecuting Attorney Chip McConville, the pill ring brought more than 84,000 prescription pills with a street value of almost $2 million into Knox County between 2011 and 2014.
Terry Jacobs was sentenced to a term of 10 years in prison on a charge of Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity and seven years of mandatory time on a charge of Aggravated Funding of Drug Trafficking. Both charges are first-degree felonies. Jacobs will not be eligible for judicial release.
His wife, Heather Jacobs, was sentenced to 90 days in the Knox County Jail and three years of community control on two counts of obstructing justice, both fifth-degree felonies. If she violates the conditions of her community control, she faces 11 months in prison on each count.
Prosecutors alleged that Terry Jacobs was the principal organizer of the operation which funded monthly trips to Florida physicians for the purpose of obtaining prescription opiates like Oxycodone. In return for funding the travel, the other participants in the ring would provide Mr. Jacobs with a portion of their prescription pills. During an interview with investigators, Mr. Jacobs estimated that he was making about $3,000 a month from the scheme. Prosecutors alleged that Mrs. Jacobs aided the operation by renting cars and making other arrangements for the travelers.
All told, the twelve successful prosecutions of the pill ring defendants resulted in prison sentences totaling 52.5 years for ten of the defendants, and jail sentences totaling 270 days for the remaining two.
Prosecutor McConville said that these prosecutions were successful because of the hard work of Det. Lt. Gary Rohler of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. “These cases were very well investigated, and Detective Rohler obtained assistance from BCI and law enforcement agencies in Florida to put all of the details together,” he said.
