Dekalb county LPN arrested for theft of controlled substances

BOAZ – Attorney General Luther Strange announced the arrest of a former employee of a Boaz area nursing facility for theft of narcotics. Cheryl Hamm, 39, of Rainsville, surrendered at the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department and was released on $1,500.00 bond.

The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit presented evidence to a Marshall County grand jury resulting in an indictment* on August 27, 2015, charging Hamm with second-degree theft of property. The charges allege that Hamm, a licensed practical nurse at Golden Living Center-Boaz, misappropriated several Hydrocodone and Oxycodone–opioids that are schedule II substances–that had been prescribed to a patient of the facility. This was discovered when the patient advised he or she had not received the medication and a review of the required medication logs showed Hamm had signed for the medication. Hamm failed to account for the missing narcotics as per protocol after signing the medication logs stating the medications had been administered.

Theft of property in the second degree is a class C felony with a possible sentence of a year and a day to ten years incarceration in the Alabama Department of Corrections. Because Hydrocodone and Oxycodone are controlled substances, the theft is automatically classified as in the second degree.

Attorney General Strange commended the staff and administration of the Golden Living Center-Boaz, as well as his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for the investigation of the case.

*An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.