Five arrested in East Cove Psychiatric Services investigation

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Agents with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants Tuesday morning at a Kinston psychiatric facility. That afternoon, authorities arrested East Cove Psychiatric Services’ owners and operators Joanna Wolicki-Shannon and Walter Shannon. Shannon, 64, faces 12 felony counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or forgery and received a $180,000 bond. Wolicki-Shannon, 50, received charges of six felony counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or forgery and took a $90,000 bond. According to the SBI, “The doctors wrote bogus prescriptions for phentermine, hydrocodone, Percocet, Adderall, vyvanse and Ritalin using their psychiatric practice employees and members of the office staff’s families to submit them to pharmacies to be filled. The employees picked up the prescribed drugs and delivered them to the doctors.” Agents arrested three others in connection to the case. Lisa Renay Lankford, 53, faces 18 felony counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or forgery and received a $279,000 bond. Candice Raegan Hill, 35, and James Howington, 31, were charged with 10 felony counts each of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or forgery along with 10 felony counts of trafficking opium. Hill received a $650,000 bond, while Howington received a $659,000 bond. Hill and Lankford are both former office managers at East Cove, and Howington is Hill's boyfriend. East Cove’s main office is located in the 1300 block of North Queen Street, while an additional facility is open Thursdays on Limehouse Road in Kenansville. East Cove serves Eastpointe region clients who require mental health, developmental disability and/or substance abuse services. State agents are being assisted by the FBI in the case. Throughout the day Tuesday the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office also lent assistance at the scene. The suspects should make their first appearance in Lenoir County District Court on Wednesday.