MN Nurse Pleads Guilty To Stealing Narcotics At Hospital

MINNEAPOLIS — A nurse working in Dodge County has pleaded guilty to obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger announced.

Jennifer Lee Garrison, 40, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court before Judge Jerry W. Blackwell to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.

A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Garrison was employed as a post-anesthesia care nurse at a hospital and had access to controlled and uncontrolled substances stored within an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC).

The ADC in Garrison’s unit stored multiple medicines, including oxycodone and oxybutynin.

Beginning in August 2022, Garrison started diverting oxycodone pills for her use instead of giving it to her patients, according to prosecutors.

By July 2023, she was diverting up to six oxycodone pills per day, authorities said.

Garrison carried out her diversion scheme using two strategies:

When patients were prescribed two oxycodone pills, Garrison would withdraw both pills from the ADC but would give the patient only one pill, investigators said.

Garrison would keep the other pill for her own use and falsified patient pain reports to cover up her scheme.

On other occasions, Garrison would enter a transaction on the ADC for oxybutynin. When the drawer for oxybutynin opened, the defendant would remove an oxybutynin pill. She would then cancel the transaction on the ADC, making it appear that she had simply accessed the wrong drawer by accident, authorities said.

With the ADC still accessible, the defendant then opened a drawer for oxycodone and removed an oxycodone pill, according to prosecutors.

Garrison kept the oxycodone pill for herself and gave the patient oxybutynin, authorities said.