Former Carter County Paramedic Sentenced to 18 Months for Tampering With Fentanyl

COVINGTON, Ky. — A former paramedic, with the Carter County Emergency Medical Service (EMS), has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, for tampering with a consumer product.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning sentenced 35 year-old Amanda Sturgill Jones and also ordered that she serve three years of supervised release following her prison term.

Jones admitted that on multiple occasions, between 2012 and June 2013, she stole fentanyl from the EMS storage center for her own personal use. To conceal her theft from the EMS and law enforcement, she replaced the empty vials of fentanyl with saline and then glued the caps back on the vials. Fentanyl is used to treat patients in severe pain.

Jones pleaded guilty in May of this year.

Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Antoinette V. Henry, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and Rodney Brewer, Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, jointly made the announcement.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, the Kentucky State Police, and the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBride prosecuted this case on behalf of the federal government.