BLOOMFIELD — A former Dexter nurse recently pleaded guilty to tampering with Hydrocodone blister packs belonging to the patients at the Bernie nursing home where she worked.
Kristen M. Moore pleaded guilty as charged Dec. 19 to the Class E felony of fraudulently attempting to obtain a controlled substance, according to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver.
Moore immediately entered her plea on the same day he filed the charge against her, Oliver said. Moore entered her plea before Associate Circuit Judge Joe Satterfield.
The complaint filed with the court alleged between March 1 and May 31, Moore “knowingly obtained Hydrocodone, a controlled substance, by fraud in that while working as a nurse in the Winchester Nursing Center in Bernie, Mo., (she) tampered with blister packs of Hydrocodone belonging to patients at the center.”
The complaint further alleged Moore removed the Hydrocodone and replaced it with “other pills, such as Tylenol.”
The case against Moore was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control.
As DDCC’s investigation was going on, “she came into my office, and she told me she was guilty of what they were investigating her for,” Oliver explained. “She said she had a prescription drug addiction.”
A registered nurse, Moore had no criminal history, Oliver said.
At that time, “I required her to surrender her nursing license, which she did,” Oliver said. “She entered into a long-term, impatient treatment facility.”
Upon Moore’s graduation from that program, “I filed one count of fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance,” Oliver said. “She immediately pled guilty to that and received a suspended imposition of sentence and was placed on five years of supervised probation.”
Among the conditions of Moore’s probation are that she complete an alcohol/drug treatment program as directed by her probation officer and not possess or consume any controlled substances unless prescribed by a licensed physician.
Prescriptions also shall be kept in the container in which the pharmacist dispensed the prescription and be taken as prescribed and at proper intervals.