Deborah Therese Sparso, Ex-CHP Officer, Cops to Using Fake Prescriptions to Miss Work

A Highway Patrol officer who lost her job after using phony prescription forms to take time off of work pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and has been sentenced to three years of probation, 10 days of community service and an order to pay $5,000 in restitution.

Deborah Therese Sparso, an Anaheim Hills 46-year-old who often served as a CHP media spokesperson, copped Wednesday to misdemeanor manufacturing, copying or reproducing false prescription blank forms.

Without the guilty plea, Sparso was looking at up to six months in jail, according to an arraignment statement from the Orange County District Attorney's office.

Between Sept. 15, 2008, and Apr. 15, 2011, she submitted prescription forms to take $11,000 worth of paid time off from the CHP, which requires the notes from doctors. The problem was, the doctor on the script did not fill it out nor authorize anyone else to do so.

Deborah Therese Sparso, CHP Officer, Allegedly Used Prescription Forms to Take Paid Time Off

Sparso used to work out of the CHP's Westminster office.

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