A nurse who tampered with drugs given to patients and stole pain medications from patients in her care was sentenced today to 4 years in federal prison.

Katie Louise Boll, age 31, from Manchester, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 3, 2019, guilty plea to one count of tampering with a consumer product, specifically liquid morphine prescribed to a patient, and one count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge.

In a plea agreement, Boll admitted she unlawfully acquired controlled substances including hydrocodone, morphine, oxycodone, codeine, and tramadol, from at least fourteen patients in her care at a nursing home by acquiring the pills by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge.  Boll also admitted tampering with a consumer product by diluting liquid morphine with mouthwash so the morphine was less than 2% of the strength listed on the bottle.  Boll admitted that by reducing the strength of this pain medication was in reckless disregard and manifested an extreme indifference for the risk that her patient would be placed in danger of receiving bodily injury, including increased pain.

Boll was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Boll was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment.  She was ordered to make $593.22 in restitution to the victims in her case, including Medicare, Medicaid and individual victims for the cost of the stolen drugs.  She was also ordered to forfeit her nursing license.  Boll must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

“Unscrupulous healthcare providers who steal patient medications hurt those vulnerable patients they have promised to help.  This office will always stand ready to protect our most vulnerable members of society,” said United States Attorney Peter E. Deegan, Jr.  “We especially thank the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations and the Iowa Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for their outstanding work investigating these cases.”

“Patients must have confidence in their health care provider that they are receiving appropriate medical care,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office. “We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect the public health and bring to justice those who tamper with medications and deny patients access to the treatments they need.”

Boll is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Reinert and was investigated by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals and the United States Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 19-CR-2044.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.

Katie Louise Boll, age 31, from Manchester, Iowa, a nurse who took hydrocodone and morphine from patients, pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Boll was convicted of one count of acquiring controlled substances by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge, and one count of tampering with a consumer product.

In a plea agreement, Boll admitted that between September 2018 and January 2019, she acquired hydrocodone prescribed for two of her patients for her own use on at least 50 occasions.  Boll took the pills by swapping the hydrocodone pills for over-the-counter pills containing acetaminophen.  Boll admitted that on December 24, 2018, she stole a morphine oral solution that was prescribed for a hospice patient for pain management and used mouthwash to dilute the solution to hide her theft.   Boll also admitted that on December 29, 2018, she acquired controlled substances from ten additional patients by swapping their prescribed pain management medications for other substances.  Boll further admitted she had been acquiring pain medications through fraud from hospitals and other facilities where she worked since October of 2016.  Finally, Boll admitted her nursing license allowed her the ability to commit her crimes.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Boll remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Boll faces a possible maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.  Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov.  The case file number is 19-CR-2044.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Reinert and investigated by Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals and the United States Food and Drug Administration. 

Katie Louise Boll, age 31, from Manchester, Iowa, has been charged with thirteen counts of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge during 2018 and one count of tampering with a consumer product, specifically morphine, on December 24, 2018.­  The charges are contained in an Indictment filed on July 7, 2019, in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids. ­

The Indictment alleges that, between September 2018 and January 2019, Boll acquired controlled substances including hydrocodone, morphine, oxycodone, codeine, and tramadol, from at least fourteen patients in her care at a nursing home by acquiring the pills by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge.  Boll is also charged with one count of tampering with a consumer product by diluting liquid morphine with mouthwash, resulting in injury to a patient.

If convicted on all charges, Boll faces a possible maximum sentence of 62 years’ imprisonment, a $3,500,000 fine, and 42 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.­

Boll appeared on July 16, 2019, in federal court in Cedar Rapids and was released on bond.  Boll’s next appearance for trial is set for September 16, 2019 

As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Reinert and was investigated by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals and the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 19-CR-2044.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.