A Sioux City, Iowa nurse who stole fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone, and hydrocodone from her employer, pled guilty on August 30, 2023, in federal court in Sioux City.  Morgan Miralles, age 32, from Sioux City, Iowa, entered a guilty plea to one count of acquiring a controlled substance by means of misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge, and one count of false statements relating to health care matters.

In a plea agreement, Miralles admitted that she diverted the controlled substances that were supposed to be dispensed to patients, for her own personal use by falsifying documents, including the omission of information on required log entries tracking the disbursement of controlled substances. Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence investigation report is prepared.  Miralles remains free on bond pending sentencing.  Miralles faces a possible maximum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a year of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons and was investigated by the Iowa Department of Inspections & Appeals, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests:

There were two arrests on Thursday, (8/31) – 36-year-old Scott Eugene Jacobsen, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 12:35-a.m., for Possession of Controlled Substance, following a traffic stop on I-29 near mile marker 40.  Bond: $2,000; and, 38-year-old William Martin Shepard, IV, of Plattsmouth, NE, was arrested at around 11:48-p.m., following a traffic stop on 190th Street in Mills County. Shepard was charged with Driving Under Suspension.  Bond: $300.00

On Friday (Sept. 1st), 52-year-old Brian John Beebe, of Hastings, was arrested on 370th Street at around 12:30-a.m., and charged with Possession of Controlled Substance – Bond: $25,000.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Council Bluffs Police Department reports a juvenile suspected in an Omaha homicide, was arrested Thursday a little before 5:30-p.m., in the Lake Manawa area. The unidentified suspect was taken into custody without injury, after the victim’s vehicle he was driving was tracked and a perimeter was established. Officers were coordinated in their search efforts by Omaha Police helicopter “Able 1.” A K9 unit assisted in the arrest.

The juvenile is suspected in the death of 43-year-old Juan Carlos Tobar-Abarca, who was found deceased in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Omaha, at around 3-a.m., Thursday. The incident remains under investigation, and no other names are being released at this time.

Other agencies assisted in the search and arrest, including: Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputies; The Iowa State Patrol; Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Omaha Police.