A pharmacy technician from Le Roy, Illinois was sentenced in September 2023 to 30 months in federal prison for theft of medical products and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. According to court documents described in the DEA release, the technician stole hydrocodone, alprazolam and promethazine with codeine from the pharmacy where he worked and then sold the drugs illegally.
The technician was indicted in October 2021 and pleaded guilty in November 2022. At the sentencing hearing, the federal judge found him responsible for diverting more than 28,000 hydrocodone pills from the medical chain of supply into the illicit drug market.
The case was investigated by the DEA Diversion Unit together with the Illinois State Police, the Southcentral Drug Task Force, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, the Carlinville Police Department, and the Pharmacy Division of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
The release notes that theft of medical products carries a statutory maximum of 15 years in prison, and possession with intent to distribute carries up to 20 years, underscoring the range of federal exposure a pharmacy employee faces when diverted drugs are resold.