Registered Nurse Pleads Guilty to Tampering with Fentanyl

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A registered nurse who worked at a medical facility in Roanoke pled guilty yesterday to a federal charge of tampering with a consumer product, namely fentanyl, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Kevin Carter, 28, of Roanoke, Va., waived his right to be indicted and pled guilty yesterday to a one count information charging him with tampering with a consumer product, fentanyl, that affects interstate or foreign commerce, with reckless disregard for the risk that another person be placed in danger of death or bodily injury. At sentencing, scheduled for September 20, 2017, at 11:00 a.m., Carter faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.

“In the face of an increasing number of overdoses involving fentanyl across the country and the Commonwealth, prosecuting individuals who divert fentanyl and other opioids is a top priority of the United States Attorney’s Office,” Acting United States Attorney Mountcastle said today. “We are committed to prosecuting, to the maximum extent under the law, individuals who unlawfully divert, import, or distribute fentanyl or other opioids.”

“FDA oversees the U.S. supply of medicines to ensure that they are safe and effective, and those who knowingly tamper with medicines for patients put their health at risk,” said Mark S. McCormack, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations’ Metro Washington Field Office. “Our office will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who violate laws designed to protect the public health.”

According to information presented at yesterday’s guilty plea hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer. On or about December 15, 2016, Carter tampered with liquid syringes of fentanyl by removing a syringe of liquid fentanyl from the anesthesia cart in an operating room for his own use and replacing the stolen syringe with another syringe, labeled fentanyl, which contained no fentanyl.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.