COLUMBUS, Ohio – A southern Ohio addiction counselor has been arrested and charged with selling more than $36,000 worth of morphine to an undercover police officer, Attorney General Mike DeWine's office announced Tuesday.

Roberta Payne, a 52-year-old resident of the tiny Ohio River town of Cheshire, was arrested Friday evening in nearby Pomeroy after she sold more than 2,000 morphine pills and 30 milligrams of liquid morphine to a drug task force officer, according to a DeWine news release.

Police began investigating Payne, who works in Gallipolis, after receiving a tip that she offered to sell morphine to one of her clients, the release stated.

Meigs County Prosecutor Colleen Williams, in a statement, called the case "shocking."

"An addiction counselor knows firsthand the effects drugs have on people, and Ms. Payne is attempting to make money preying on the very people she should be helping," Williams said in the statement.

Payne faces a felony charge of aggravated trafficking in drugs.