Longtime Hogansville pharmacist Phil Waldrop is facing felony charges after an investigation that began in 2009.
He’s been charged with four counts of conspiracy to violate the Georgia Controlled Substance Act and was arrested last week and immediately released on a $10,100 bond.
Waldrop, 64, owns and operates the Hogansville Pharmacy on East Main Street. Waldrop, who was at work this week, said he couldn’t comment on his criminal case.
He did say that his retirement plans have been put “on hold.” He had been in negotiations with Rite Aid, which also operates a pharmacy in West Point, for the chain to buy out his store, but a deal hasn’t been finalized.
An attorney for Waldrop and the assistant district attorney in Polk County who is prosecuting the case did not return phone calls.
The charges stem from the efforts of a friend of Waldrop, Bob Tweed, allegedly obtained prescriptions illegally from Waldrop to try and poison his wife, Lydia.
Bob Tweed is a former resident of Hogansville who later moved to Polk County.
Tweed allegedly wanted the prescriptions to poison and kill his wife so he could inherit money she had brought into their marriage. He eventually was arrested in August 2009 and charged with 32 counts of obtaining and/or attempting to obtain drugs by fraud and 57 counts of unauthorized distribution/fictitious information and cruelty to a person over the age of 65.
After Tweed’s arrest, the Georgia Board of Pharmacy began investigating Waldrop.
Lydia Tweed eventually won a civil suit against her husband.
In spite of the charges, support for Waldrop has sprung up around Hogansville and a Facebook group, We Support Phil Waldrop, had 684 members as of Wednesday afternoon.
Supporters on the social networking site said Waldrop would deliver prescriptions to residents day or night and is the only place in town that still lets customers pay on credit.
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