Illinois Man Sentenced for Opioid Diversion

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Nauvoo, Illinois man was sentenced today for diverting opioids from a healthcare facility where he was employed as a pharmacist.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Josef Andres Blunier, 47, between at least July 2022 and July 2023, obtained prescription pills from a Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center hospital while working as a pharmacist. To obtain the pills, Blunier would order and not report the pills in the pharmacy’s inventory, misrepresent the destination of inventory, and take out-of-date pills instead of disposing them. In total, Blunier diverted 10,592 Schedule II controlled substances, including oxycodone, hydromorphone, morphine, and hydrocodone. In 2023, Blunier also obtained part-time employment at another Iowa pharmacy and diverted Schedule II controlled substances by taking them from filled patient prescriptions.

Blunier received a three-year term of probation. Blunier was also ordered to pay $5,311.61 in restitution, a fine of $5250, and a $200 special assessment.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.