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Ex-Iowa nurse sentenced for taking patients’ pain pills

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August 30th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A former nurse who admitted diverting pain medications from residents at two northeastern Iowa nursing homes has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. The Courier reports that 36-year-old Lacey Staveley, of Evansdale, was sentenced Thursday in Cedar Rapids.

Staveley pleaded guilty last year to one count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception or subterfuge and another count of making false statements relating to health care matters. She was later charged with contempt after police say she stole pills from a relative after she had pleaded guilty to the nursing home thefts.

Prosecutors say she took hydrocodone intended for two chronic pain patients at Cedar Falls Health Care in November 2016, then faked medication logs to cover her tracks. Officials say she also took pain medication in 2018 from two patients at Harmony House in Waterloo and replaced them with anti-psychotic and antidepressant drugs.