A former pharmacy technician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Kerrville, Texas, has been sentenced to prison for stealing prescription medications from veterans.
Scott Mitchell Brown, 38, was sentenced in a federal court in San Antonio to 42 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, theft of government property, and possession of stolen mail.
According to court documents, Brown devised a scheme to steal narcotics that were being shipped from the pharmacy to VA patients, selling them for profit to individuals in the Kerr County area.
Brown used his position to identify the mailboxes of veterans who had prescribed narcotics, and he and his codefendants, including John Swiencki and David Jeffrey Hughes Jr., broke into the mailboxes to steal the medications.
Swiencki was sentenced to 12 months in prison in September 2022, while Hughes was sentenced to 35 months in prison in December 2022.
“Brown’s misuse of his position with the VA is a repugnant betrayal by a public servant against our nation’s veterans,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the VA Police, the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office, the Kerrville Police Department, and the Kerr County District Attorney’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fidel Esparza III prosecuted the case.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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