A former nurse has been sentenced for tampering with opioids intended for emergency department patients at a Massachusetts hospital.
Mark Croft, 48, of West Boylston, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and three years of supervised release, with the first year to be severed in home confinement. He pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product and one count of acquiring a controlled substance by deception and subterfuge.
Croft tampered with carpujects – syringe devices used to administer injectable fluid medication – containing hydromorphone and meperidine between January 5 and 14, 2016. He used his credentials to enter false “cancel” or “return to stock” transactions in the automated dispensing machine, allowing him to remove carpujects containing hydromorphone and meperidine.
Croft then used syringes to puncture the carpujects and remove portions of the hydromorphone and meperidine for his own use. In several instances, he replaced the medication he removed with saline in an attempt to conceal his conduct. To avoid detection, Croft later put the carpujects with the diluted medication back in the automated dispensing machine where they remained available for nurses to unwittingly use on patients.
The crime came to light after Croft was terminated from a previous position as a nurse. He had entered into an Agreement Not to Practice with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing in December 2015, but failed to disclose this to his then-current employer.
U.S. Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell praised the efforts of law enforcement in this case, saying, “The actions of Mark Croft put patients at risk and undermined the trust that is essential to the healthcare system.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Callahan prosecuted the case, which was announced by Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell, Jeffrey Ebersole, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office, and Margaret R. Cooke, Acting Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Sex Crimes|Cybercrime|Public Corruption|Weapons|Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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