PAXTON — A former Paxton pharmacist charged with two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance was arraigned and placed on a pretrial release order last week in Ford County Circuit Court as a pretrial hearing was set for June.
Jenna Lee Vogel — the onetime owner and head pharmacist of the now-shuttered Doug’s Compounding Pharmacy in downtown Paxton — appeared for her arraignment on Tuesday, March 25, with her attorney, James Martinkus of Champaign, who had entered his appearance a day earlier.
The Ford County Jail’s booking photo for Jenna Lee Vogel, 35, of Gibson City.
After being arraigned on the charges by Judge Matt Fitton, the 35-year-old Vogel, who listed an address in Gibson City, was placed on a pretrial release order that included conditions that she not leave the state without the court’s permission, refrain from using controlled substances not prescribed to her, and obtain a psychological evaluation.
Vogel was ordered to report to the Ford County Jail to be fingerprinted and have her mugshot taken, then was released. Vogel was ordered to appear in court for a pretrial hearing at 9 a.m. Monday, June 9.
State’s Attorney Andrew Killian on Feb. 24 charged Vogel with one Class X and one Class 3 felony count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, and Vogel was then issued a summons on March 7 to appear in court on March 25.
The charges allege that Vogel “knowingly possessed with the intent to deliver” 100 grams or more of a substance containing hydrocodone, as well as “an amount” of amphetamine, “on or about” March 10, 2023.
It was on that same date when 43,893 controlled substances were removed from the Vogel home in Gibson City by investigators for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, according to a complaint that led to the temporary suspension of her registered pharmacist license by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
The drugs included medications in their original manufacture bottles, as well as unlabeled vials, containers of compounded creams and products “with and without product name,” and loose tablets and capsules in the bottoms of bags and totes, the complaint said. Only some of them were Vogel’s prescriptions.
Three days later, the complaint said, Vogel’s then-husband turned over to the DEA some of the antihypertensive drug Clonidine that had been found in their home. According to the complaint, Vogel’s pharmacy at 137 N. Market St. in Paxton, which closed suddenly months earlier, had purchased more than 50,000 tablets of Clonidine but never sold them. Meanwhile, her three kids’ childcare providers said they had noticed the kids were “sleepy and lethargic,” the complaint noted.
The complaint — filed by Mary Meehan, chief of health-related prosecutions for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation — led to a finding that Vogel poses “an imminent danger to the public” and the suspension of Vogel’s license, effective May 5, 2023.
If convicted of the Class X felony charge filed against her, Vogel would face a mandatory prison term ranging from six to 30 years, while the Class 3 felony carries penalties ranging from probation to up to five years’ imprisonment. A mandatory “street value” fine, among other penalties, could be imposed, as well.
Vogel purchased Doug’s Compounding Pharmacy in 2019 from its longtime former owner and pharmacist, Doug Higgins, who established the business in 1997. She previously did an internship there as a pharmacy student.
The pharmacy suddenly shut down in winter 2022-23, not long after a foreclosure complaint was filed against Vogel by the Arkansas-based First Financial Bank, which secured judgment in its favor in summer 2023. According to the foreclosure complaint, Vogel defaulted on a $1.75 million mortgage she secured to acquire the pharmacy.
Following a foreclosure sale, Andy Hudson of Paxton — who owns Hudson Drug & Hallmark Shop at 108 N. Market St. in the city’s downtown — purchased the former Doug’s Compounding Pharmacy property in fall 2023 and opened Hudz Family Fun Zone there in December 2024.