Prosecutors Reduce Charges Against Accused Pill Thief

BEVERLY, MA -- The Essex District Attorney's office amended charges against Lisa Tillman, 50, of Salem, to obtaining drugs by fraud from the more serious charge of larceny of drugs. The office attributed the fact that Tillman, who is accused of stealing 18,000 pills from Beverly Hospital while working as a pharmacy technician, has no prior record. The change will allow the case to be tried in district court.

If convicted on the new charges, Tillman faces up to 2 1/2 year in prison.Tillman has been driving a school bus for North Reading Transportation Bus Inc. and subject to twice-weekly drug screenings while free on $10,000 bail and awaiting trial.

Tillman pleaded not guilty to the charges in October. Prosecutors say she stole Percocet, OxyContin, fentanyl and other medications over an 13-month period while working at Beverly Hospital. She told police she stole the pills for herself, and flushed the ones she did not take down the toilet.

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).