Incidentcase75

Mills pleaded guilty May 22 2018 in federal court to acquiring the drug fentanyl by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and tampering with consumer products, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme’s office.

Mills was fired from the hospital in March 2017 after a colleague discovered irregularities with the automated secure cabinet in which the hospital stores controlled substances.

When Mills was interviewed by a hospital administrator, court documents state, he had a syringe of fentanyl on him and tested positive for the drug. In an interview with investigators from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration later in the month, Mills allegedly said he began using the drug in February 2017 to deal with neck pain and anxiety.

Fentanyl is an opioid used in a sedative mixture prescribed to patients before they undergo a catheter insertion procedure, according to the hospital.

Of 22 packages of the drug suspected to have been tampered with, the DEA drug lab found that 15 had no fentanyl remaining inside them, court documents state.

The Montana Board of Nursing revoked Mills’ license last June.