Worcester Nurse Charged with Stealing Drugs
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Saturday, November 28, 2015
Federal Authorities announced that a charge against a registered nurse was unsealed this week in U.S. District Court in Worcester in connection with her stealing painkiller from the nursing home where she worked. Lea Roberge of Worcester, attempted to cover her crime by replacing the medication with saline.
She has been charged with tampering with a consumer product, specifically the Schedule II controlled substance morphine which is used for pain relief.
The complaint alleges:
“that in March 2015, while working as a Registered Nurse at Holy Trinity Eastern Orthodox Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Roberge tampered with morphine sulfate contained in emergency narcotic kits. The kits are available for use at the nursing home in case of an emergency when there is not enough time to obtain medication from the pharmacy. Roberge, who had access to these emergency narcotic kits, used a syringe to extract morphine from six vials and one bottle. In an attempt to avoid detection, she replaced the extracted medication with saline, thereby decreasing the potency of the drug.”
The maximum sentence under the statute is 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
As GoLocalWorcester reportered earlier this week, in an unrelated but similar case, on Tuesday an ambulance paramedic was sentenced to 30 months in prison after she stole Fentanyl by extracting it from vials and replacing it with saline. Teresa Torres was sentenced in Worcester by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Hillman.
Related Slideshow: #50 to #1: Doctors in Worcester That Received the Most Money from Drug Companies
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#50
Doctor: BOGDAN NEDELESCU
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $7,711
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#49
Doctor: NIKOLAOS KAKOUROS
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease
Drug Company Money: $7,787
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#48
Doctor: DANIEL TANENBAUM
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Drug Company Money: $8,430
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#47
Doctor: J.Lock
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Drug Company Money: $8,459
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#46
Doctor: PETER TOMAIOLO
Field: Other Service Providers/Specialist
Drug Company Money: $8,711
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#45
Doctor: DAVID HARLAN
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Drug Company Money: $8,734
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#44
Doctor: WALTER ETTINGER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $8,926
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#43
Doctor: STANLEY TAM
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery)
Drug Company Money: $8,993
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#42
Doctor: JAN CERNY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Hematology & Oncology
Drug Company Money: $9,004
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#41
Doctor: ROBERTO BOMPREZZI
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Psychiatry & Neurology, Neurology
Drug Company Money: $9,015
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#40
Doctor: PATRICK CONNOLLY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $9,422
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#39
Doctor: SALEEM KHANANI
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Hematology & Oncology
Drug Company Money: $10,432
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#38
Doctor: CHRISTIAN DIPAOLA
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $10,501
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#37
Doctor: KEVIN FLOYD
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
Drug Company Money: $10,521
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#36
Doctor: CHRISTOPHER VINTON
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $10,547
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#35
Doctor: MICHAEL BRADBURY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Ophthalmology
Drug Company Money: $11,285
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#34
Doctor: SPIRO KHOURY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $11,569
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#33
Doctor: CAROLINA IONETE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Psychiatry & Neurology, Neurology
Drug Company Money: $12,513
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#32
Doctor: CURUCHI ANAND
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $14,792
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#31
Doctor: CHARLES BIRBARA
Field: Other Service Providers/Specialist
Drug Company Money: $15,061
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#30
Doctor: JENNIFER PAPPALARDO
Field: Podiatric Medicine & Surgery Service Providers/Podiatrist, Foot & Ankle Surgery
Drug Company Money: $15,218
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#29
Doctor: LAWRENCE GARBER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $15,357
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#28
Doctor: THEO MEYER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease
Drug Company Money: $16,199
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#27
Doctor: JOHN WIXTED
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $16,292
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#26
Doctor: LLOYD FISHER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Pediatrics
Drug Company Money: $16,939
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#25
Doctor: SETH KATES
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Dermatology
Drug Company Money: $17,106
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#24
Doctor: WILLIAM BALCOM
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $17,189
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#23
Doctor: IRA OCKENE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease
Drug Company Money: $20,250
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#22
Doctor: ALAN ROTHMAN
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Infectious Disease
Drug Company Money: $21,366
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#21
Doctor: MARK PRICE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $21,649
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#20
Doctor: KRISHNA KANDARPA
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology
Drug Company Money: $22,864
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#19
Doctor: DAVID CAVE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology
Drug Company Money: $26,454
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#18
Doctor: CHRISTOPHER MACOMBER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Surgery
Drug Company Money: $27,285
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#17
Doctor: RAYMOND DUNN
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Drug Company Money: $28,671
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#16
Doctor: BONNIE WEINER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease
Drug Company Money: $28,951
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#15
Doctor: HERBERT MARKLEY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Psychiatry & Neurology, Neurology
Drug Company Money: $35,233
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#14
Doctor: SARAH CUTRONA
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $37,108
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#13
Doctor: YARON GOLDMAN
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease
Drug Company Money: $41,206
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#12
Doctor: ITALO LINFANTE
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology
Drug Company Money: $63,654
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#11
Doctor: JEAN MARIE HOUGHTON
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology
Drug Company Money: $63,972
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#10
Doctor: MOHAMAD OCH
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Psychiatry & Neurology, Psychiatry
Drug Company Money: $74,245
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#9
Doctor: FREDERIK PENNINGS
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Neurological Surgery
Drug Company Money: $80,495
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#8
Doctor: JAY MARLIN
Field: Dental Providers/Dentist, Endodontics
Drug Company Money: $90,669
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#7
Doctor: BILAL PIPERDI
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Hematology & Oncology
Drug Company Money: $95,534
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#6
Doctor: GEORGE ABRAHAM
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine
Drug Company Money: $97,836
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#5
Doctor: JONATHAN KAY
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Rheumatology
Drug Company Money: $121K
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#4
Doctor: ANDRES SCHANZER
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Surgery, Vascular Surgery
Drug Company Money: $126K
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#3
Doctor: BRIAN BUSCONI
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Orthopaedic Surgery
Drug Company Money: $209K
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#2
Doctor: TARIQ MUGHAL
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Internal Medicine, Hematology & Oncology
Drug Company Money: $432K
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#1
Doctor: AJAY WAKHLOO
Field: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians/Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology
Drug Company Money: $1.01 Million
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