Ryan Paul Etscheid, Controlled Substance Theft, Iowa 2026

Pharmacist Sentenced for Stealing Controlled Substances

A licensed pharmacist who stole prescription drugs containing controlled substances has been sentenced to three years of probation. Ryan Paul Etscheid, 40, from La Salle, Illinois, was sentenced on April 15, 2026, for acquiring a controlled substance by means of misrepresentation, fraud, deception, and subterfuge.

Etscheid, a pharmacist, created fake patient profiles to steal controlled substances, including oxycodone, at a pharmacy in Waterloo, Iowa on July 9, 2023. He used similar methods to acquire controlled substances while working at a pharmacy in Ottumwa on February 13, 2022, March 10, 2023, and May 23, 2023.

Etscheid pled guilty to three counts of acquiring a controlled substance by means of misrepresentation, fraud, deception, and subterfuge on October 27, 2025. He was subsequently sentenced to three years of probation on December 20, 2024.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Etscheid was ordered to make $1,177.04 in restitution to the victim pharmacy.

Etscheid was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. The case file number is 25-CR-2041. Information from sentencing and public court records is available online at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

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Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndia/pr/pharmacist-who-stole-controlled-substances-sentenced-0