The Vicksburg home of a Tallulah doctor charged last fall with 300 counts of prescription fraud is the target of a forfeiture civil suit brought by District Attorney Ricky Smith.

Dr. Lawrence Chenier and the home at 100 Colonial Drive, along with lienholders State Farm Bank, Bloomington, Ill., and M&I Support Services Corporation, Madison, Wis., are named in the suit filed Jan. 6 in Warren County Court.

Chenier, 58, was arrested Sept. 29 along with Patti Carr, 41, whom investigators identified as his live-in girlfriend. Chenier was picked up at his Tallulah office at 900 Johnson St. with assistance from the Madison Parish Sheriff’s Department, while Carr was served with arrest and search warrants by deputies and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents at the couple’s home.

They are each accused of 300 counts of controlled substance fraud in acquisition and one count of conspiracy to commit controlled substance fraud in acquisition. They have not been indicted by the grand jury, but the January term meets next week and their cases could be among those considered.

Smith would not comment on the specifics of the suit, citing “ongoing litigation,” but said if it is successful, the property would be sold and the proceeds would go to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

The house and land, valued at less than $200,000 according to the suit, are subject to forfeiture because of having been used to facilitate violation of the Mississippi Uniform Controlled Substances Law.

Warren County land rolls value the house and land at $177,450.

Deputies who searched the home, located on a cul-de-sac off Indiana Avenue between Interstate 20 and Mission 66, found nearly 400 prescription vials they said were from fraudulent drug purchases, many of them from Vicksburg-area pharmacies.

Matched with prescription records, the vials showed the haul included about 6,000 Lorcet and 8,000 Lyrica tablets. In addition, about 80 Xanax pills had been prescribed, and a small quantity recovered.

Chenier and Carr were released Sept. 30 from the Warren County Jail, each posting a $100,000 bond.

Lawsuit supporting documents indicate Chenier is living at the 100 Colonial Drive home.

Online records show Chenier was an emergency and family practice physician licensed in Louisiana. He maintained the Johnson Street office and also worked in the emergency room of the Madison Parish Hospital at 900 Johnson St. Hospital representatives contacted Wednesday would not comment on his current status there.

He received his medical degree in 1980 at Meharry Medical College in Nashville and has been in practice since 1982, records show.