Pittsfield Nurse Sentenced for Stealing Fentanyl from Critical Care Patient

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Massachusetts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 17, 2023

BOSTON – A registered nurse was sentenced today in federal court in Springfield for stealing fentanyl being administered to a critical care patient.

Jessica Lotto, 37, of Pittsfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to three months in prison and one year of supervised release. On May 31, 2022, Lotto pleaded guilty to one count of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, deceit or subterfuge. 

In February 2019, while working as a nurse at Berkshire Medical Center, Lotto entered a patient’s room in the critical care unit where she used a syringe to steal fentanyl being administered to the patient through an IV line. The patient was sedated and unaware of Lotto’s actions. Lotto later admitted to taking the drug from the patient.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Fernando McMillan, Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office; and Margret R. Cooke, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deepika Bains Shukla, Chief of Rollins’ Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.

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Topics
CONSUMER PROTECTION

Component
USAO - Massachusetts