News and Press Releases
Nurse sentenced for stealing narcotics from hospital
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS—Last week in federal court, a 45-year-old nurse employed at a hospital
was sentenced for stealing the narcotic hydromorphone. On January 20, 2012, United States
District Court Judge Ann D. Montgomery sentenced Della Rae Thalin, of New Richmond,
Wisconsin, to three years of probation on one count of obtaining a controlled substance by
fraud. Thalin was charged on August 22, 2011, and pleaded guilty on October 6, 2011.
In her plea agreement, Thalin admitted that between February 25 and March 19, 2011, she
obtained the hydromorphone by accessing drug storage cabinets using her unique user
identification and password. She then removed it from the hospital for her personal use.
This case was 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 Stillwater
Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Svendsen.
