Ryan Lannen

The Laurel County Sheriff's Department says a man who worked at a local printing company used it to feed his drug habit. Deputies say 23-year-old Ryan Lannen would print fake prescription pads for Corbin area doctors, and then forge prescriptions for hydrocodone.

"He [Lannen] had access to legitimate prescription pads and he was printing out pads for himself," said Laurel County Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, adding that this abuse shows signs of "extreme addiction."

Sheriff's Deputies charged Lannen with 42 counts of fraudulently obtaining prescriptions, and forgery of prescriptions. The Corbin man was booked into the Laurel County Detention Facility.

A news release from the Sheriff's Department says Lannen admitted to using 10 hydrocodone tablets a day. He reportedly told deputies he had fraudulently obtained as many as 2,500 tablets in the past 6 months. He did not have a patient –doctor relationship with any of the doctors.

"Normally in a case like this where this many pills were involved it might be a drug trafficker," said Deputy Acciardo, "in this case, that wasn't the case at all, he was using them for himself."

Authorities say Lannen had also falsified his application to the printing company that employed him—stating that he was an injured Iraqi veteran.

The business name is not being released, and they declined to comment on the case, but Deputy Acciardo says the printing company was not aware of the ongoing abuse.