A Rainsville woman is charged with stealing narcotics from her employer.
Attorney General Luther Strange announced Friday that Cheryl Hamm, a 39-year-old licensed practical nurse at Golden Living Center-Boaz, misappropriated several Hydrocodone and Oxycodone — opioids that are schedule II substances. The medication had been prescribed to a patient of the facility.
Strange said this was discovered when the patient said they had not received the medication; a review of the required medication logs showed Hamm had signed for it. Hamm failed to account for the missing narcotics as per protocol after signing the medication logs stating the medications had been administered.
Strange said Hamm surrendered at the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department and was released on $1,500 bond.
The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit presented evidence to a Marshall County grand jury resulting in an indictment on Aug. 27, 2015, charging Hamm with second-degree theft of property. An indictment is an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Theft of property in the second degree is a Class C felony with a possible sentence of a year and a day to 10 years incarceration in the Alabama Department of Corrections. Because Hydrocodone and Oxycodone are controlled substances, the theft is automatically classified as in the second degree.
Strange commended the staff and administration of the Golden Living Center-Boaz, as well as his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for the investigation of the case.
