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Man accused of faking cancer to avoid court
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A Glendale man faked a cancer illness to not only obtain painkillers illegally but to also avoid legal proceedings against him, police said.
Citing his poor health, Charles Desplanques, 25, convinced a judge to keep postponing court appearances from an earlier drug charge. Desplanques, and his friend, Anders Hallstrom, 25, were accused last week of drug-fraud charges after they were arrested by Scottsdale police.
The pair's drug scams started earlier, according to court records.
Desplanques was indicted Nov. 20, 2006, on charges of fraudulently obtaining a prescription for the high-strength painkiller fentanyl.
But he pretended to have cancer to postpone court appearances. Desplanques was due in court in March 2008 to face the 18-month-old drug charges. Records show he checked into a hospice on March 5, 2008. His March 17 hearing was delayed to March 25, then postponed again to April 22, the day Desplanques checked out of the hospice.
No explanation was provided to explain why the defendant was able to check out of the hospice yet was unable to appear for his court date. A Scottsdale police report says Desplanques was not released, but rather removed twice from Hospice of the Valley, after the agency could not verify his medical information.
When he was due back in court in May, Michael Baker, Desplanques' attorney, asked a judge to dismiss the charge against his client until he was able to appear in court.
Baker said Desplanques' cancer had spread to his bones; he was confined to bed on five liters of oxygen; and had two central lines leading to his chest wall to deliver medications directly to his heart.
The judge bought it and agreed to postpone proceedings, but did not dismiss the drug charges.
"We have no indication Mr. Desplanques was ever sick or bedridden," said Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale police spokesman. Desplanques' next hearing in the 2006 case is next Monday.
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