Probation for repeat Elgin prescription drug offender
A 38-year-old Elgin woman who was arrested three times last year on felony prescription drug forgery and possession charges pleaded guilty Monday and received five years of probation.
If Colleen L. Bagley fails to complete treatment and pass drug tests from TASC, or Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, she will be sentenced to up to 16 years in prison.
"Have you really made the decision you're going to turn your ways around?" Kane County Judge James Hallock asked Bagley after she pleaded guilty to four felonies. "Either you'll be dead or in prison or you'll die in prison of old age. This is your last chance to make something of your life."
Bagley was on probation for a 2012 felony offense when she was arrested in March 2013 on charges she tried to get drugs using a forged prescription form in West Dundee.
Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Sal LoPiccolo said Bagley was arrested in April 2013 after a traffic stop in Carpentersville and she had 163 OxyContin tablets.
On Nov. 8, 2013, Bagley was tackled by East Dundee police officers after she tried using a forged prescription form to get drugs at Walmart.
And less than a day after posting bond on that arrest, Bagley was picked up again in East Dundee in a traffic stop and charged with possession of a more than 100 grams of hydrocodone with intent to deliver, a felony that carries a maximum 30-year prison term.
Monday, the charges were reduced to possession of less than 100 grams of hydrocodone, a felony.
Bagley also was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but she could have that sentence halved for good behavior. Because she served 158 days in jail since her last arrest, she was supposed to be released Monday.
Stacy Bishop, who is Bagley's sister-in-law and says she has custody of her two children, believes significant prison time might be the only answer.
"She walks all the time. She's never had to do time for anything," Bishop said. "I'm frustrated with the whole entire court system. She can keep going and going to all the rehab programs instead of doing time, which is probably the only thing that will help her."