Riese faces 4 charges in Oregon court

GOLD BEACH, Ore. — Former Del Norte County District Attorney Mike Riese was arraigned in Curry County Circuit Court on Monday on two counts of tampering with drug records and two of second-degree forgery, stemming from two incidents in December when Riese allegedly used forged prescriptions to purchase a controlled substance.

Riese, 48, waived reading of the charges when asked by Circuit Court Judge Jesse Margolis.

Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier appeared by telephone as a special Curry County district attorney, prosecuting the case.

The charging information contends that last Dec. 7 and again on Dec. 12 Riese used a forged prescription for fentanyl, a controlled substance, in Curry County.

Those are both Class C felonies.

It also says that on Dec. 7 and Dec. 12, Riese knowingly “uttered written instruments” which the defendant knew to be forged.

Those are both Class A misdemeanors.

Margolis granted Riese a conditional release, with no travel restrictions. One restriction is that Riese not posses a controlled substance without a valid prescription.

“You will have to go to the jail to be booked and released,” Margolis told Riese.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes Fentanyl as a “powerful synthetic opiate analgesic similar to but more potent than morphine. It is typically used to treat patients with severe pain, or to manage pain after surgery.”

Riese is to make his next appearance in Curry County court  Feb. 29 at 9 a.m.

Curry County District Attorney Everett Dial said that he had asked Frasier to handle the Riese case because of a conflict of interest.

“When he was DA, I frequently talked to him about cases that involved both counties,” Dial said. “Because I had worked with him, I didn’t think it appropriate to handle the case.”

The charges were filed after an employee at the Chetco Pharmacy in Brookings became suspicious of Riese because he was a new customer, wanted to pay cash and the signature of his doctor, Dr. Donald Micheletti, appeared forged, an affidavit stated.

She contacted Micheletti’s Crescent City office, faxed a copy of the prescription and then was informed by someone at the office that it wasn’t his signature, nor did he authorize the prescription for fentanyl, the affidavit stated.

A Brookings detective also spoke with Micheletti about the prescription Riese attempted to use, the affidavit stated.

Micheletti told the detective that he did not sign the prescription and that the pad it came from had not been in use for several years, the affidavit stated.

Micheletti also said he is a personal friend of Riese and was unaware how he obtained the prescription, the affidavit stated.

Riese said the prescription was about a year old and was legitimately signed.

On Wednesday, Riese is due to appear in Del Norte County Superior Court for a pretrial conference on charges that are unrelated to the Brookings case. They include one count of driving under the influence of drugs, two counts of child endangerment and a single count of public intoxication, all stem­ming from an Aug. 22 incident in which a Crescent City Safeway employee called police to say that Riese was behaving strangely.