Nov 6, 2009 By The 2 min read

The state Superior Court upheld a lengthy prison sentence an Ohio woman received in Greene County Court after a jury convicted her of drug charges, even though she failed to appear for the trial. A three-judge Superior Court panel on Wednesday denied the appeal of Anita Lee Workman’s sentence of 3 years and 9 months to 7 years and 6 months in prison.

Workman, 42, of Cleveland failed to appear for her first schedule trial so it was rescheduled to June 2007, but she failed to appear again, according to court records.

The trial proceeded in her absence and she was found guilty of delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver, possession and two counts each of possession of a controlled or counterfeit substance, delivery and conspiracy to deliver.

A male co-defendant was acquitted, according to court records. He had been charged with driving her to the Medicine Mine pharmacy on Route 88 in Carmichaels where she sold the drugs and purported drugs to a confidential informant working for the Greene County Drug Task Force in July 2006.

Workman was captured in Ohio in February 2008 and Greene County Judge H. Terry Grimes sentenced her in April 2008.

She sold the informant fentanyl patches and pills purported to be percocet.

Both drugs are pain relievers, officials said.

The state police crime lab determined that the pills were actually vitamin E and acetaminophen tablets.