Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Kentucky

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 30, 2019

PIKEVILLE, Ky. - A Salyersville, Kentucky, woman, Kelsie Spencer, 25, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison by United States District Judge Robert Wier on Tuesday, following her conviction for tampering with a controlled substance.      

According to Spencer’s plea agreement, while working as a nurse at Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center, she removed vials of butorphanol tartrate (Stadol) from the drug supply area of the hospital, for her own personal use.  Spencer then injected a saline solution back into the vials, in order to conceal her criminal activity.  In her plea agreement, Spencer acknowledged that she acted with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury, if health care personnel had attempted to utilize these altered drugs on a patient that actually needed them.

Spencer pleaded guilty in July 2019.

Under federal law, Spencer must serve 85 percent of her prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Mark S. McCormack, Special Agent in Charge for the Food and Drug Administration – Office of Criminal Investigations; and Commissioner Richard Sanders, Kentucky State Police, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations and the Kentucky State Police. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William S. Dotson and Andrew Trimble.

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Attachment(s):
 Download Spencer Drug Tampering Sentencing
Topic(s):
Prescription Drugs
Component(s):
USAO - Kentucky, Eastern
Contact:
CONTACT: Gabrielle Dudgeon PHONE: (859) 685-4887 E-MAIL: gabrielle.dudgeon@usdoj.gov