News and Press Releases
Kimball nurse charged with fraudulently acquiring a controlled substance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 6, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS—This week in federal court, a 42-year-old Kimball nurse was charged with fraudulently acquiring a controlled substance, namely hydromorphone hydrochloride, commonly sold as Dilaudid. Blake Daniel Zenner was charged via an Information with one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.
From November 2010 to March 8, 2011, Zenner allegedly acquired the Dilaudid for his own use and benefit while he was employed as a registered nurse at a hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Zenner purportedly accessed the lockboxes where the hydromorphone hydrochloride was stored and used syringes to remove the substance from intravenous bags intended for hospital patients. On some occasions, Zenner allegedly injected the intravenous bags with saline solution to replace the missing Dilaudid before returning the bags to the lockboxes for patient use.
If convicted, Zenner faces a potential maximum penalty of four years in prison. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge. This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Svendsen.
A defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven guilty at trial.
