Ricky Perritt to stay in political race

Tuesday afternoon Ricky Perritt held a press conference in Floridatown Park to announce he will remain in the 2010 race to become the next Representative to the Florida House Representing District 1.

Perritt read a prepared statement that said," We all know that arresting someone does not make them guilty and unfortunately, there is no way to prove my innocence before the election."

The primary election is set for Aug. 24, while Perritt's court date is scheduled for Aug. 26.

Tuesday afternoon Perritt posted a $22,000 bond after appearing before Judge Robert Hilliard.

Monday night Perritt turned himself into the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and was charged with withholding information from a practitioner to obtain a controlled substance, obtaining a prescription by fraud and trafficking in hydrocodone following the arrest of his wife last week who was booked on similar charges.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agents arrested Perritt, 43, of Wallace Lake Rd. on the above charges after the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from a local physician’s office on June 30. 

The complainant alleged that Perritt had fraudulently obtained hydrocodone through his wife, a former employee of the office, who called in several prescriptions for hydrocodone for herself and Perritt.

Perritt’s wife, Jennifer Rene, was arrested on July 21 with 23 counts of drug trafficking, a first-degree felony; 31 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by forgery, a third-degree felony; and one third-degree felony count of fraud, according to a Santa Rosa County sheriff’s report.

"It is no secret that my family and I are going through tough times right now and my wife and I intend to continue to support each other in this time of need and work to clear our names of these charges," Perritt said.

According to the July 21 report, Jennifer worked as a medical assistant for a Pace doctor and according to the report, called in hydrocodone prescriptions for her and her friend between October 2009 and June 2010.

Jennifer was released after posting $31,000 bond following her Wednesday arrest.

FDLE agents suspect that between December 2009 and July 2010, Perritt visited several physicians within the Santa Rosa County area in order to obtain hydrocodone.

FLDE agents said that Perritt did not disclose to any of the physicians that he had already been prescribed hydrocodone by another physician. More than 1,200 hydrocodone pills were fraudulently obtained during this time period.

Perritt was hired by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and served for 11 years and achieved Sergeant status before retiring in 2009 according to his political website.

Perritt graduated from Pace High School in 1986 and later enlisted in the army where he served in Operation Desert Storm and was later honorably discharged in 1992. 

Ricky Perritt pointed out he has been a resident of Santa Rosa County for 43 years and this is the first time he has had any legal problems.

"I am a common man," Perritt said. "I want to let everyone know politics is a hard game and that our nation is in the mess it is in because politicians play hard."