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CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago nurse was handed down a two-year prison sentence for tampering with patients' medication.
Sarah Diamond, 31, pleaded guilty last year to a federal charge of tampering with a consumer product. On Thursday, she was sentenced to two years in federal prison for the crime.
Her charge is in connection with an incident that occurred in the summer of 2021, when Diamond was employed as the assistant director of nursing at a Chicago-area medical rehabilitation center.
Diamond reportedly removed morphine bottles that were going to five patients and replaced them with another liquid. She then took the morphine for personal use, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"In at least one instance, a patient's family members observed the patient suffering during what would end up being some of the final moments before dying," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual said patients should be able to be confident about the prescribed medications that they are receiving.
"Health care practitioners who illicitly tamper with prescription drugs will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Pasqual said.