VA Techs Steal $160K in Opioids, Sell on Streets

Three Veterans Affairs employees in Little Rock are under federal indictment for a brazen scheme to steal and sell $160,000 worth of prescription drugs, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, diverted from the VA John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital. Satishkumar “Steve” Patel, 44, of North Little Rock, Alisha Pagan, 33, of Mabelvale, and Nikita Neal, 42, of Little Rock face eight counts of conspiracy and drug distribution charges tied to a years-long theft operation that began in 2016.

The superseding indictment, unsealed Wednesday, reveals that Patel, a pharmacy technician, used his VA credentials to access a medical supplier’s web portal and order massive quantities of controlled substances—4,000 oxycodone pills, 3,300 hydrocodone pills, 308 ounces of promethazine syrup with codeine, and over 14,000 Viagra and Cialis pills—at a taxpayer cost of $77,700. He allegedly falsified invoices to cover the thefts, funneling the drugs to Pagan and Neal for street-level distribution.

“This case is an example of government employees using their position of trust to not only steal from the taxpayers of Arkansas, but also to poison the communities we live in with dangerous drugs,” said Christopher R. Thyer, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. The investigation, launched by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General (VAOIG) after reports of unaccounted medications, included controlled deliveries of oxycodone to track the distribution chain.

Patel is charged with four counts of possession with intent to deliver oxycodone; Pagan faces one count of the same charge. All three are charged with conspiracy to steal VA medications and conspiracies to distribute oxycodone and hydrocodone. If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in federal prison and fines up to $1,000,000.

“It is particularly egregious when the perpetrators of such illegal acts are health care professionals responsible for ensuring that potentially dangerous drugs are dispensed properly,” said Matthew R. Barden, DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Little Rock. The DEA and VAOIG worked in tandem to expose the network, underscoring ongoing efforts to combat pharmaceutical diversion within federal health systems.

“The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General remains committed to stemming the diversion and abuse of opioids in VA facilities,” said James W. Werner, Special Agent in Charge of the VAOIG’s South Central Field Office. The case continues as a stark reminder that betrayal from within can be as deadly as crime on the streets.