Nurse Given Prison Sentence for Drug Theft and Tampering

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Northern District of Iowa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Stole Pain and Other Medications from at Least Fourteen Patients

A nurse who tampered with drugs given to patients and stole pain medications from patients in her care was sentenced today to 4 years in federal prison.

Katie Louise Boll, age 31, from Manchester, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 3, 2019, guilty plea to one count of tampering with a consumer product, specifically liquid morphine prescribed to a patient, and one count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge.

In a plea agreement, Boll admitted she unlawfully acquired controlled substances including hydrocodone, morphine, oxycodone, codeine, and tramadol, from at least fourteen patients in her care at a nursing home by acquiring the pills by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge. Boll also admitted tampering with a consumer product by diluting liquid morphine with mouthwash so the morphine was less than 2% of the strength listed on the bottle. Boll admitted that by reducing the strength of this pain medication was in reckless disregard and manifested an extreme indifference for the risk that her patient would be placed in danger of receiving bodily injury, including increased pain.

Boll was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Boll was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment. She was ordered to make $593.22 in restitution to the victims in her case, including Medicare, Medicaid and individual victims for the cost of the stolen drugs. She was also ordered to forfeit her nursing license. Boll must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Unscrupulous healthcare providers who steal patient medications hurt those vulnerable patients they have promised to help. This office will always stand ready to protect our most vulnerable members of society,” said United States Attorney Peter E. Deegan, Jr. “We especially thank the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations and the Iowa Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for their outstanding work investigating these cases.”

“Patients must have confidence in their health care provider that they are receiving appropriate medical care,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office. “We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect the public health and bring to justice those who tamper with medications and deny patients access to the treatments they need.”

Boll is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Reinert and was investigated by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals and the United States Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 19-CR-2044.

Topic(s):
Opioids
Prescription Drugs
Component(s):
USAO - Iowa, Northern