Feds Find Prescription That Elicits Guilty Plea

A man has pleaded guilty in federal court to running an elaborate network of companies, including four in Thousand Oaks, that fraudulently bought and sold $10 million worth of pharmaceuticals.

Peter John Fenton, a 42-year-old former Thousand Oaks resident and ex-motorcycle gang member, could face nine years in prison when he is sentenced in December, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Larsen.

“This guy really knew what he was doing,” Larsen said last week after Fenton admitted to fraud and money laundering charges.

Fenton’s scam spanned 10 years and involved a dozen businesses in California, Texas, Colorado and Minnesota, where the case was filed. Fenton’s Thousand Oaks companies included Avason Medical Services and Conejo Institutional Services.

According to the Feds, Fenton posed as a drug supplier to nursing homes to obtain pharmaceuticals at a cut rate. Those facilities get drugs more cheaply because they are subsidized by health insurance and the government.

After having the drugs shipped to one of his warehouses, Fenton would sell a small portion to the nursing homes and the bulk to a wholesaler at a big markup.

Prosecutors say the profits netted him a country estate in Minnesota, several boats, cars, Harleys and guns. It also gave him piles of cash--enough to support an alleged speed habit and the whims of a girlfriend who goes by the name “Candi Creamer.”

Fenton was arrested in Orange County in August after fleeing Minnesota with Creamer a month earlier. He was extradited to Minnesota, where he has lived since 1995.

Creamer is also in jail in Minnesota on charges of helping her man flee.

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David Keith, the county’s first civilian law enforcement spokesman and the man behind the nation’s first police-themed cable talk show, has embarked on a new dual career in the private sector that involves both cops and kids.

After 16 years as the official mouthpiece for the Oxnard Police Department, the 41-year-old Keith resigned to start a home-based consulting business and to open a chain of tutoring centers.

“I really think this is a logical extension for me in my career,” Keith said. “Knowing the difference I can make, especially in the lives of kids, is a great feeling.”

Children were a big part of Keith’s law enforcement career, during which he gave more than 250 speeches about crime prevention to community groups and schools.

“One-third of all crime is done by kids. You gotta reach the kids if you’re going to make a difference,” he said.

At his tutoring centers, which will open in January, students will get assistance mastering reading and math skills. Keith believes that kids who make good grades have more confidence and self-esteem--and commit less crime.

As for consulting, Keith visits police stations across the country and teaches officers how to create cable shows and Internet sites that provide residents with crime news, statistics and safety tips.

In 1985, Keith started “Street Beat” on Jones Intercable in Oxnard. It had no budget and few viewers, but today the hourlong show has about 5,000 fans who tune in every Monday night.

The program also earns a respectable $50,000 a year in ad revenue, which pays for crime prevention tools in Oxnard such as Neighborhood Watch stickers and signs.

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Legwork by investigators from the district attorney’s office and a little luck have resulted in a woman’s arrest on suspicion of cashing $3,244 in fake welfare checks at convenience stores in Ventura and Oak View.

I wrote about the alleged scam in August after police said they were stuck because none of the clerks at four stores that cashed the checks had asked for a picture ID.

Employees at two stores requested thumbprints, but those didn’t help because the suspect hadn’t been in the criminal system before.

The phony checks contained a nonexistent address for a payee who wasn’t the suspect.

Investigators canvassed the stores and found an Oak View shopkeeper who said that two women came into his store together to cash a bogus check and that he knew the first name of one woman because she lived in the area and was a regular customer.

Investigators located that woman, Audrey Leslie of Oak View, who was arrested on suspicion of four felony counts of passing bogus checks, said Vinse Gilliam, a deputy chief investigator.

The second woman is still being sought.

Authorities still aren’t certain how the checks were created. Gilliam wouldn’t comment on what evidence was recovered during a search of Leslie’s home.

Leslie is out of jail on $10,000 bail. She will be arraigned next week.

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For his 18 years of service and relentless pursuit of drug dealers who push their junk near schools, Oxnard Police Officer Rick Anderson beat out all other municipal workers to be the city’s latest Employee of the Year.

In a ceremony at City Hall last week, Chief Art Lopez praised Anderson for being highly respected by his peers and being the type of cop who gets the job done without needing supervision.

“From a supervisor’s perspective, there’s not a whole lot that needs to be done with the work he does. It’s always a notch above the rest,” said Sgt. Marty Meyer.

His peers nominated Anderson because he’s the guy everybody goes to for advice in working drug cases. During his career, Anderson, 45, has busted dozens of drug houses near the city’s schools.

“If I can make some kind of change, I’ll be happy,” Anderson said.

Holly Wolcott can be reached at: holly.wolcott@latimes.com