Rite Aid Drug President Pleads Innocent to Bribery Charges

The president of Rite Aid Corp., the nation’s largest drugstore chain, pleaded innocent today to charges that he bribed a state Pharmacy Board member, and the case was assigned to a judge who previously issued rulings favorable to Rite Aid.

Martin Grass, 35, did not speak during his arraignment before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Jose Villanueva; his plea was entered by his lawyer.

Grass and the corporation are charged with one count each of bribery and possession of criminal tools--the corporate jet on which Grass flew to meet Pharmacy Board member Melvin Wilczynski of Toledo at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on April 27.

Grass was arrested after sheriff’s deputies videotaped his meeting with Wilczynski at a nearby hotel.

Rite Aid has claimed that the $33,000 check for Wilczynski represented money that the Shiremanstown, Pa., drugstore chain owed Wilczynski as part of an agreement with another chain Rite Aid purchased last year.

Ironically, the case was assigned--by random draw--to Judge Lillian Greene, who issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month halting the processing and service of the indictments on Grass and the corporation, ruling that they violated a gag order she imposed in June.