Pharmacy Tech Steals Painkillers, Shreds Evidence

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A former pharmacy technician thought the prescription pill records she was finagling were better shred than read.

A former pharmacy technician thought the prescription pill records she was finagling were better shred than read.

Tonia Smith of Perry, Maine, pleaded guilty to stealing hydrocodone from her former workplace, the Indian Health Service Center, according to the Associated Press (AP). The Bangor Daily News also reported discrepancies with orders of carisoprodol and alprazolam.

Smith confessed to ordering more hydrocodone than the pharmacy needed on 4 or 5 occasions and then taking the painkillers herself, according to Maine News Simply. She shredded the records in an attempt to conceal the evidence.

Smith also pleaded guilty in federal court to food stamp fraud, and she could face up to 9 years in prison for the drug charge and fraud, the AP reported. She could get fined for up to $250,000 for each of her 2 counts.

The 42-year-old former pharmacy technician had been buying electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards from individuals on food stamps for less than what they were worth, and then using the cards to make unauthorized purchases, according to the AP. She allegedly paid 5 food stamp recipients 50 cents on the dollar for their EBT cards, according to court documents.

Smith worked at the health center on the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s Pleasant Point reservation and was pilfering hydrocodone from July to November 2013, according to Maine News Simply.

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