CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A nurse has pleaded guilty for fraudulently obtaining drugs at the hospital where she worked in Charlottesville.
According to the Virginia State Police, a former registered nurse who worked in the Emergency Department at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital (SMJH) in Charlottesville, pled guilty today to obtaining controlled substances, fentanyl, and hydromorphone, by fraud.
Angelica Franklin, 36, of Chesterfield, Virginia, waived her right to be indicted and pled guilty today to one count of acquiring or obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation by fraud, forgery, or deception.
According to court documents, “Franklin was a registered nurse with the Virginia Department of Health Professions Board of Nursing. On August 16, 2021, she began working in the Emergency Department of SMJH in Charlottesville.”
The following was published in a release by the U.S. Department of Justice today:
Franklin admitted today that in September 2021, she knowingly and intentionally entered fraudulent verbal orders for fentanyl and hydromorphone into the SMJH electronic medical records system on behalf of physicians who did not issue the verbal orders. Franklin then obtained the fentanyl and hydromorphone from the SMJH automated dispensing cabinet but did not administer the controlled substances to patients.
In addition, Franklin admitted to unlawfully obtaining controlled substances fentanyl, hydromorphone, oxycodone, and alprazolam while working as a nurse at three Richmond-area health care facilities: Stony Point Surgery Center, Vibra Hospital, and The Laurels of Willow Creek.
In total, across all facilities, Franklin unlawfully obtained approximately 4,450 mcg of fentanyl, 80 mg of hydromorphone, 3,600 mg of oxycodone, and 14 mg of alprazolam.
Franklin is scheduled to be sentenced on November 10, 2022 and faces a maximum penalty of four years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.