Virginia Vet Sentenced for Stealing

What Happened

Patrick Gries, a veterinarian at VCA Amherst Animal Hospital in Amherst County, Virginia, was sentenced in June 2022 to eight months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty in January 2022 to adulteration of a drug held for sale and distribution of a controlled substance without a written prescription. According to court documents, he withdrew part of the hospital's hydromorphone from vials, injected it into himself, and replaced it with saline or butorphanol before returning the altered drug to inventory.

“pleaded guilty in January 2022 to one count of adulteration of a drug held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce”
U.S. Department of Justice / U.S. Attorney's Office press release, Jun 22, 2022

Related Guidance

15 Red Flags of Drug Diversion — Behavioral and transactional indicators of diversion.
Investigation Playbook — How to investigate suspected diversion inside an organization.

Sources

U.S. Department of Justice / U.S. Attorney's Office press release, Jun 22, 2022

Case at a Glance

Setting: Animal hospital
Drug: Hydromorphone
Method: Withdrew drug from vials, self-injected, and replaced it with saline or butorphanol
Status: Pleaded guilty January 2022; sentenced June 2022 to eight months in federal prison

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

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Where this record connects to the site's working material. Links are chosen from the case's setting, drug and method fields.

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Last reviewed: September 2026 · Educational content, not legal advice.

About the author

DivertGuard is built and maintained by Alex Rodriguez, MHIIM, CPhT (also known as Jesus Rodriguez) — a drug diversion prevention program manager with more than a decade in pharmacy practice, including direct responsibility for a health-system controlled substance diversion prevention program.

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Related Resources

Diversion Settlements & Fines

Settlements, civil penalties and criminal fines paid by hospitals and pharmacies in documented drug diversion cases, with the amount, year and primary source for each

Penalty Outcomes in the Case Records

Counts of the outcomes the registry records state: prison, probation, fines, licence actions and restitution, with stated sentence lengths by band and by drug class

Registry Insights: Sentences, Fines, States and Outcomes

Sentence lengths, fines and restitution, cases per 100,000 pharmacists by state, and plea and licence outcomes, each counted from the case records with its n, plus charts of cases by year, state and drug class

Virginia Vet Sentenced for Stealing Hydromorphone