Pruitt Charged in Police Case; Says It Was an Innocent Mistake

Revere Police announced late Tuesday afternoon that they are pursuing charges against School Committeewoman Donna Wood Pruitt for allegedly selling Class E drugs to an undercover officer at her home.

Pruitt said on Tuesday it was an innocent mistake that she regretted, and noted that the prescription medications she sold were for diabetes and cholesterol.

Revere Police said that they learned about the situation through information developed from a source. That person informed them that Pruitt had put up a Facebook posting wanting to sell specific medications.

The Police opened an investigation and initiated an undercover buy.

That buy took place at Pruitt’s home on Monday, May 4, and Police say Pruitt sold Class E, non-narcotic medication to that undercover officer.

Pruitt will face charges in Chelsea District Court as a result of that summons in June.

Pruitt said the medications were Actos and Metformin, one for her cholesterol and one for diabetes. She said she had purchased them, but the doctor quickly told her not to use the meds. So, she had a lot of medication she suddenly couldn’t use.

“We had just got the prescriptions in and the doctor said we shouldn’t take them,” he said. “I put it on Facebook. I really thought I would be saving someone some money. It can cost $50 a month for those prescriptions. I thought someone could get three months of their medication for $25. That’s all. I was only trying to help. That’s all I was thinking. I didn’t know I couldn’t do that. I was naïve.”

Pruitt said a long-time family friend she identified as “Joe” came to her house on Monday with someone she didn’t know. “Joe” had called her about the prescriptions and Pruitt said she thought it might be for him or his parents. She gave the two men the medications for $25.

“I had no idea,” she said. “In fact, the guy I didn’t know asked me if I got these all the time. I told him that it was just a one-time thing because my doctor took me off them. I just didn’t want to throw it away.”

She said she got several calls from family and friends not long after putting up the post last week on Facebook, with most everyone telling her to take it down immediately – which she said she did.

School officials had no immediate comment on the matter, saying they didn’t have any specific information on the charges since they were not school related.

Pruitt reiterated that she truly thought she was only helping.

“It was completely innocent,” she said.

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