Kennewick woman accused of trying to delay fraud sentence

A Tri-City judge accused a Kennewick woman this week of trying to dodge her jail term by showing up for her sentencing without arranging care for her kids.

Nicole B. Allenton, 44, was being sentenced on Wednesday for writing fake prescriptions for painkillers when she made a tearful plea to go home instead of to jail because she didn’t know where her two kids would go.

Judge Alex Ekstrom said it was unreasonable for the former dental hygienist to think she wasn’t going immediately to jail.

“There are two ways to see this. One is (you are) simply trying to deny the reality of what’s going to happen,” Ekstrom said. “The other is attempted manipulative behavior to try and get a result from the court that you wouldn’t any other way.”

Allenton previously pleaded guilty in Benton County Superior Court to three counts of obtaining a controlled substance through fraud, and second-degree theft for shoplifting $700 of makeup. The drug charges included the fact she used her position of trust as the office manager for American Family Dental in Kennewick.

On Wednesday, attorney Randy Jameson said his client was under the impression she could ask to do the time on a work crew, which means she would live at home and report to the jail at set times to do work in the community.

Ekstrom noted that sometimes he will allow a jail alternative when the sentence is six months or less, but rarely grants it for anything longer.

Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Howell argued the agreement was for Allenton to serve her sentence behind bars. The plea agreement called for a recommended one-year sentence in jail, at the top of the standard range.

“The defendant clearly has a very, very serious substance abuse problem,” said Howell, adding that Allenton’s family members also are victims of her addiction.

“What she needs now is the opportunity to find sobriety. She hasn’t, I think, truly experienced that,” he added. “There’s only one guarantee she will have sobriety – it is in confinement where she won’t have the opportunity to be exposed to controlled substances.”

Jameson said his client already has been evaluated and told she needs six months of treatment.

“I don’t know if jail is the best place for somebody to necessarily get sober,” he said.

Allenton knew working in a dental office was “the easy way” to get access to prescriptions, instead of buying painkillers on the street, and that is why she took those jobs, Jameson said.

She took responsibility for her crimes and should be allowed to do nine months on work crew so she can care for her kids and her father, who has been in rehabilitation following surgery and will be home soon in a wheelchair, he said. The attorney said another option is to break up her jail time.

Allenton told the court she got treatment with a 30-day inpatient program before the charges were even filed, and said she remains sober.

Judge Ekstrom said it was not right for the burden to fall on Allenton’s children and her father because of her “lack of planning.” He told her to return to court March 9 to finish the sentencing hearing.

“You will make whatever preparations you can to … serve your sentence of confinement,” Ekstrom said.

Three years ago Allenton had been a dental hygienist with Stout Family Dental in Kennewick when she used the office’s prescription software to get narcotics. She ended up pleading guilty to prescription fraud and her hygienist license was suspended.

Before that in 2008, state health officials placed Allenton – who also uses the name Nicole Polus – on probation for calling in unauthorized prescriptions from another dental office. She was not charged with a crime at that time.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Kennewick woman accused of trying to delay fraud sentence."