Baldwin Man Sentenced For $78,000 Drug Theft

BALDWIN, PA - A Baldwin man will serve 30 to 60 days in prison for stealing $78,675 worth of drugs from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak sentenced Matthew Ieraci, 30, following his guilty plea to one count of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds.

According to U.S. Attorney Scott Brady’s office, Ieraci stole a total of approximately 52.45 grams of powder alprazolam from the medical examiner's office where he formerly worked as a lab scientist. Alprazolam is an active ingredient in the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.

Ieraci also allegedly stole the drug from a larger quantity of alprazolam that the United States Postal Inspection Service had submitted to the medical examiner's office for analysis in connection with an ongoing federal drug-trafficking investigation.

Ieraci, the scientist assigned to analyze the evidence, had received training in proper evidence-handling techniques and was aware of the consequences of evidence tampering, according to Brady’s office.

Photo via Shutterstock.

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