CONCORD — A Northfield woman pleaded guilty in federal court for diverting fentanyl from an intensive care unit patient at Concord Hospital, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire Jane E. Young on Monday.
Lisa Richardson, 48, pleaded guilty to tampering with consumer products. Richardson was scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 16, 2025 by U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty, according to the U.S. Department of Justice press statement.
Richardson was accused of removing a quantity of fentanyl from an intravenous line bag inserted in an ICU patient on Dec. 30, 2022, while working as a nurse at Concord Hospital. She then replaced the fentanyl with saline. Richardson was not assigned to that patient’s care as part of her duties as a nurse, according to the DOJ.
She could be sentenced to up to 10 years incarceration, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Her sentence will be imposed by a federal district court judge based on U.S. sentencing guidelines and statutes which determine the sentence in a criminal case.
The investigation into the crime was led jointly by the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Ward is prosecuting the case.
New Hampshire law enforcement has used resources to enforce federal laws connected to the diversion of dangerous narcotics by medical professionals, according to the DOJ. In July 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office settled a $300,000 civil action with Catholic Medical Center to resolve allegations they violated the Controlled Substances Act by failing to keep accurate records of controlled substances, which enabled a nurse anesthetist to steal hundreds of doses of fentanyl over the course of a year.
In June 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office settled a $2 million civil action with Cheshire Medical Center for their failure to fulfill obligations under the CSA which enabled a nurse to steal 23 intravenous bags of fentanyl solution from an automatic medication dispensing machine. In June 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office settled a $300,000 civil action with PillPack by Amazon, a pharmacy, to resolve allegations they violated the CSA, which risked the division of drugs that are often abused in communities, according to the DOJ.
(1) comment
Why so long until the sentencing?
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