Nurse From Madison Gets 2 Years In Prison For Tampering With Fentanyl

MADISON, CT — Bryan Wilson, 40, a nurse from Madison, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to serve two years in federal prison for tampering with fentanyl vials, the Justice Department said.

Wilson, who must report to prison to begin serving his sentence Jan. 9, 2023, will also have three years of supervised release after his incarceration, U.S. Attorney for CT, Vanessa Roberts Avery, said.

Wilson must also pay a $5,000 fine.

According to Avery, court documents and statements made in court, Wilson was employed as a nurse by The Vascular Experts, a Connecticut company that performs outpatient medical procedures. As part of his duties, Avery said, Wilson was responsible for "conducting sedations on patients" and he had access to the secure area in his workplace that contained vials of drugs used as anesthetics, including fentanyl.

In August and September 2021, Wilson took vials of fentanyl that were intended to be used to formulate infusion for patients, federal prosecutors said. He used a syringe to withdraw the fentanyl from the vials and re-injected saline into the vials so that it would appear as if none of the narcotics were missing, per Justice. When another nurse at the company noticed that vials had been tampered with, and Wilson was subsequently questioned by company officials, Wilson admitted that he stole the fentanyl and used it to treat a medical condition, Avery said.

On Feb. 10, Wilson pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product.

Wilson, out on bond, surrendered his nursing license.

This matter was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; the DEA’s Hartford Diversion Control Division; and the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, Drug Control Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller.