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House Candidate’s Wife Jailed On Drug Trafficking, Related Charges
July 22, 2010
The wife of a candidate for Florida House District 1 has been arrested on drug charges in Santa Rosa County.
Jennifer Rene Perritt, 38, of Wallace Lake Road, Pace, is charged with drug trafficking, prescription forgery and fraud. She was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail where she was being held on $620,000 bond.
(Read a July 24 update to this story here.)
She is the wife of Ricky Perritt, a Republic candidate for the Florida House District 1 seat. A statement issued by Perritt’s campaign said Jennifer Perritt has suffered from a degenerative spinal condition for the past seven years, and that she became addicted to her prescribed pain medications.
“Last night Mrs. Perritt voluntarily reported to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff to answer questions regarding allegations that she mishandled prescriptions,” the news release states. “Mr. Perritt is concerned for the health of his wife and he is consulting with the appropriate professionals to evaluate the situation. During this time Mr. Perritt asks you to pray for his family and asks that you respect his wife’s privacy.”
Ricky Perritt plans to hold a press conference on Friday to answer questions regarding his future plans.
Florida House District 1 includes the northern two-thirds of Escambia County, most of Santa Rosa County and a portion of Okaloosa County. The seat is being vacated by Greg Evers who is running for Florida Senate District 2.
Comments
36 Responses to “House Candidate’s Wife Jailed On Drug Trafficking, Related Charges”
it’s going to be hard to run for office whild fighting an assortment of charges against himself and his wife.
It’s probably better to just do one thing or the other: trafficking or politicking
I think with all the charges she is facing there is no way she will get out of this without doing some prison time. Of course, anything can happen in a court room. My concern is that she will be given special treatment because of her husband. I do not think she deserves MORE punishment because her husband was a cop & now a politician but I also do not think she deserves LESS punishment than the average person would get.
Ricky Perritt is selfish to stay in this race given the charges against his wife. He asks for us to respect his wife’s privacy yet he puts himself and his family in the spotlight by continuing to run. Does this make any sense to anyone?
PUBLIC RECORDS ARE PUBLIC……….YALL HAVE A GOOD TIME INVESTIGATING
To the one that said to check the SR County Clerk on Mrs. Perritt…. You need to know that the lady only had 2 speeding violations in the 90’s. The Jennifer Renee Perritt listed is not her! The other Jennifer listed was married to a Jerry Perritt…. Not Ricky. Just setting the record straight.
Have a nice day!
what has happen to ms perritt privacy, are we to give the people that runs for office, their privacy, i think not we are the voters, is she in (reh, hospital, ect) mr. perritt placed himself in this runing for office. in seven years that mr. perritt has been her husband and a police officer, he did not notice her signs of taking to many drugs, for a so call back problems, it did not state she took them, none of the charges was not for her taking the drugs, is one listing, when she return home with her children, why was she not placed in (reh, hospital ect), if some of us was charge with these charges children service ) would be knoking on our doors. yes mr perritti said pray for his family, i know i will be, for the hurting of the children. them having to go to school, for people making fun of them, ect, i will be prying for mrs. peritt to get the help she needs , for mr. perritt for the things he needs to look at first and that is family.
Just a bit more………..Mrs. Perritt worked at a doctors office up until a few months ago. Maybe that is where she got the prescription pad for the forgery. Trafficing doesn’t always mean you are selling drugs. It can also be that she had over a certain amount on her that was illegally purchased. Fraud, forgery,trafficing. It all fits. With as many counts as she has I don’t beleive that rehab and probation are appropriate. These are FELONYS! Some carry 3 year minimums.
Dark circles or “moons” under the eyes are a telltail sign of not living a clean life. If you know someone with this trait, it is adviseable to have them seek help before it is too late.
Look for yourself at the public records on her. Go to clerk of court santa rosa county . You will see Mrs. Perritt is not innocent. If you do the crime you should do the time. She should not get any special considerations. If she does then we can blame it on the good old boys thing. You will never make me believe that she didn’t know she was doing wrong. Maybe this will finally be the time that he can’t get her out of trouble. They are not celebritys. Do not give them your sympathy vote. The only ones that need your sympathy are the children. Why isn’t anyone thinking of them? She has 4 and he has none. I hope someone thinks to remove the children from this terrible situation. Poor kids.
i agree with Bill
people need to look at the past and find the answers……..Ricky and Jennifer
How did she hide her actions from her husband the former police officer? With that question in mind how could I cast a vote for him?
The charges are for trafficking, I may be wrong but would that be considered as selling them. Using them and selling them are two different things, but I may be wrong on the trafficking definition.
Judy, please forgive me. What I said was not directed at you. I really just made it before someone got out the firing squad. We all have the ability to get into trouble, wreck and auto, or just in a monent really do something stupid. Just wanted people to think before the slaughter. She’s only human.
big b- as i reread my comment, i can see that it could be misconstrued…my point was, that she should not be held under any excessive scrutiny or penalty(because of her husband) than that of any other individual facing similiar charges—> rehab (including pain clinic visits), financial reparation and probation/counseling….i think that the bond reduction is more appropriate now, as well…as far as her husbands political career…well, i think that his first priority in life, right now, should be the restoration (physical/mental) of his family…only he (and the voters) can judge as to whether or not he can successfully juggle the both simutaneously….many, many other families (myself included) have had to deal with these similiar cicumstances…so, i certainly can sympathize.
Drug trafficking, prescription forgery, and fraud.
Seems she stepped over the line big time. She broke the law on THREE counts. When you break the law you must face up to the fact that you are going to “do the time”, regardless of how “innocently” you became addicted to prescription drugs, who you are, or who your spouse may be. This isn’t Hollywood..there are no reduced sentences for “celebrities” in this neck o’ the woods!
I agree with the above poster about the Dr’s giving the prescriptions. I was under the impression that ALL dr’s have to turn the information over to the state when hard narcotic prescriptions are given to any patient. This info should be in a computer system for all physicians to check BEFORE giving these drugs out. I know family members that are hooked and all they do is go from dr office to dr office complaining of pain and they get them, no questions asked. I know if they aren’t given to them, they will just go out and illegally buy them, BUT, if these substances were as “controlled” as they should be,less and less people would be able to get their hands on them to sell on the streets!
I don’t know the lady, but in her behalf. Doctors are the ones who prescribe the meds that start these people out on a path of addiction. God has blessed be in my life that a BC powder is about the strongest pain med I ever use. I seldom use them. What she has done is wrong but to treat or accuse her of being a hardened criminal is just as wrong. Some of the post here are just plain hateful, hope you mean spirited ones never have to face you demons in life, or have you and just like bashing others just to feel good about yourself.
I have known Ricky for years. I imagine this is taking its toll on him. They did reduce the bond to 31,000 and she has been released.
I have to agree with the person that spoke about addiction. Many people become addicted to prescription drugs. I hope for her sake she gets help and can turn her life around. Maybe rehab is perfect for her.
Ricky, don’t drop your head. Keep moving on and just know that there are people praying for you!
Bond is set to assure the accused shows up in court.
If the accused is considered dangerous or likely to flee no matter what, bond is not given.
If the accused is considered trustworthy and likely to show up, no bond is required.
Between the two depends on what it takes to assure the accused shows.
If punishment is required, it is after conviction only. It is wrong to punish the innocent even if they are accused. They are not legally determined to be guilty until after a jury or judge declares it to be so.
David discussing the concept of bond
I would say the bond was in relation to how many times she did the crime.
23 counts on one charge means it happened 23 different times.
31 counts means it happened 31 different times.
I still do not understand the $620,000 bond when she appears to having been getting most or all of the drugs for her own use because of her physical pain. A dealer with “coke” or what ever would not be hit with this high a bond. This seems like an over kill to me. A bonds basis is just to insure the person showing up for court. This young woman has ties to the area with family and so on—I just do not understand the bond amount. To get out of jail and start treatment would cost the family at least $62,000 that would never see again. It just sounds wrong.
When is this so called press conference….. should be interesting
Jennifer Rene Perritt, 38, 1700 block of Wallace Lake Road, Pace, fraud, 31 counts of forgery, 23 counts of drug trafficking.
What do the 31 counts and 23 counts mean????
To some of you: not everyone who has a drug problem hides behind a rehab or anything else as far as that goes. My son got hooked on prescription drugs, He lost a good job and all he had worked toward for the past twelve years. He went and got help and has not touched any drug in about five years. He will tell anyone , he would give anything to be able to go back and seek help sooner, and not lose everything like he did. There is help and you can do it, but you have to want to and some people just don’t want to. I don’t know these people, but I am so afraid it’s going to hurt his campaign. Drugs are destroying so many lives and it’s so sad that they are so plentiful in this area.
depending on any prior run-ins w/the law, a deal will prob be made w/the court to get her into an agressive drug treatment program…followed by a lengthy and closely monitored probation period…as well as, repayment of any fines, court costs, legal fees, etc……just because she is the wife of a local politician, she should be afforded the same penalties, that others who have done similar crimes, have ended up with.
The only reason for a bond is to insure that the person shows up in court and not to cause them harm. I find it hard to understand the high amount of bond on this young woman. I do not know her or her husband and do not live where I can vote in the election. One could almost read between the lines and feel that someone who is anti-Perritt and called in a favor to get a HIGH bond set.
lola-
You may ’see it all the time’ but you can not say thay he WILL cover it up for her. It is a little late for him to cover up anything, don’t ya think? I don’t live in his voting district and have never heard of Mr. Perritt, so I don’t have a vested interest in his campaign. What I don’t like is people grouping those addicted to precription drugs in with some crackhead. Those who are in pain and get addicted to medicines that are prescribed to them need to get help and should be treated differently than those who are seking to break the law by selling controled substances.
I have had (5) surgeries since January 09′ dealing with my neck and back……I haven’t resulted in this kind of behavior………I see it as a sorry excuse!
You all better look hard at these people before you vote them in. I know both him and her. I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them.
It must have been a very large amount to be “trafficking” with a $460,000.00 bond.
831.02 CASE0001 FRAUD T F $5000.00
893.13.7a9 CASE0001 FORGERY T F $155000.00
893.135.1c1 CASE0001 DRUGS-TRAFFIC F F $460000.00
I’m sure you all have had some type of an addiction in your family or maybe even a close friend wether it is drugs or alcohol. If you haven’t you are one lucky person, it’s not something they can control, it’s a disease. There was a woman arrested for the 5th time for doing the exact same thing, and had a bond of only 50,000.00, seem a little crazy, huh? I think due to the fact that Mr.Perritt is a threat and is running for this position seems to me these other canidates are making their inner wheels turn and making this harder on Mr.Perritt at any expense necessary for their political game even if that means attacking a man’s wife.
HE STILL HAS MY VOTE due to the fact of honesty, and he came straight out with all the facts. This man and his family is going through a hard enough time and still makes it apoint to represent our area! Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
AMAZING…620,000 dollar bond.
!9 year old century woman drug charges. 10,000 dollar bond here on this web page and sex offender on 14 year old runaway 55,000 dollar bond. Where do they come up with such small bonds to such a huge bond?
she looks fine just another drug head but now she has her hubbys canidatacy to hide behind. He will cover up for her and she might go to rehab for a couple of days and then he will start purchasing her med ( DRUGS) for her. I see it all the time.
wow.. no wonder the campaign has been so quiet lately..
Guess he won’t be making the rally saturday..
“Ricky Perritt plans to hold a press conference on Friday to answer questions regarding his future plans.”
That’ll be a waste of time. I can tell you what his plans AREN’T going to be: win a House seat.