News and Press Releases
Nurse pleads guilty to stealing Vicodin from patients
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS – Earlier today in federal court, a nurse employed at an assisted living
facility pleaded guilty to stealing Vicodin from patients. Travis Alan Bourbonnais, age 35, of St.
Paul, pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Bourbonnais, who
was indicted on June 21, 2011, entered his plea before United States District Court Judge Joan
N. Ericksen.
In his plea agreement, Bourbonnais admitted that from May to August of 2010, he took the
patients’ Vicodin and created a fraudulent narcotics record book to conceal the missing drugs.
The pills stolen often came from inventory intended for destruction or medication orders for
amounts in excess of what was truly needed by the patients.
For his crime, Bourbonnais faces a potential maximum penalty of four years in prison.
Judge Ericksen will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled. This case is
the result of an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-Office of Criminal
Investigations, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Minneapolis Police
Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Svendsen.
