Former Spaulding worker pleads guilty to stealing, replacing child meds

A Tilton man has pleaded guilty to stealing medication at a Northfield juvenile treatment facility, resulting in serious injury to two residents.

Thomas John Ball Poirier, 41, pleaded guilty in Merrimack Superior Court on Monday to charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and obtaining a controlled drug by deceit.

Poirier allegedly stole medications while employed at Spaulding Academy and Family Services in Northfield, and then replaced the stolen medication with unknown substances that he colored with marker pens to make them appear as the medications that had been prescribed to residents at the facility, which serves youngsters with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Two of the children experienced severe behavioral changes as a reaction to having their prescriptions tampered with, according to a statement released Monday by state Attorney General John Formella.

Poirier worked at the facility between July 3, 2020, and Dec. 22, 2020, when he stole medications, some for patients younger than 13, according to the AG’s office.

At the time of Poirier’s arrest in March 2021, authorities alleged he had stolen methylphenidate, commonly known under the brand name Ritalin, a stimulant that is used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

First-degree assault carries a maximum term of seven and a half to 15 years in prison. Second-degree assault and obtaining a controlled drug by deceit each carry a maximum penalty of three and a half to seven years in prison. However, because some of the victims were younger than 13, Poirier faces enhanced penalties, which could result in a prison sentence of up to 30 years.

Poirier is scheduled to be sentenced in the Merrimack County Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 13.

Attorney Andrew T. Yourell and Senior Assistant Attorney General Thomas T. Worboys, of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, prosecuted this case.

The AG’s office is handling the case because under state law, the attorney general is responsible for prosecuting health care facility employees charged with abuse, mistreatment or neglect of a patient.