June 9, 2017: Providence Nurse Pleads Guilty to Tampering with Oxycodone
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U.S. Department of Justice Press Release
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For Immediate Release |
United States Department of Justice District of Massachusetts |
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BOSTON – A licensed nurse pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Worcester to stealing oxycodone pills from a nursing home where she worked and attempting to conceal the theft by replacing the medication with other medications.
Charlotte Demers, 36, of Providence, R.I., pleaded guilty to four counts of tampering with a consumer product, specifically oxycodone, a narcotic used for pain relief. Demers is currently enrolled in the Court-run RISE program.
Between Sept. 12, 2016, and Oct. 8, 2016, while working as a licensed practical nurse at Countryside Health Care in Milford, Mass., Demers tampered with four blisterpacks of oxycodone that had been prescribed for residents of the nursing facility. She removed the oxycodone pills from the blisterpacks, replaced them with other medications that were used to treat other medical conditions, re-sealed the blistercards and put them back on medication carts at the nursing facility.
The charging statute provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Jeffrey Ebersole, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office; and Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Division of Food and Drugs, Drug Control Program, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett of Weinreb’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The RISE Program (Repair, Invest, Succeed, Emerge) is a Court-run program, designed to aid in the rehabilitation of applicable defendants who have pleaded guilty and are under pretrial supervision prior to sentencing. Their sentence is dependent upon their completion of the program and is determined at a later time.
Topic(s):
Prescription Drugs
Component(s):