FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2022
For press inquiries only, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Attorney General Steve Marshall Announces Conviction of Nurse for Theft of Narcotics from Butler County Nursing Home
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Steve Marshall announced today the conviction of Samantha Noel Kelley, 32, of Greenville for the theft of 638 narcotics pills from a Georgiana nursing home where she had been employed as a licensed practical nurse.
Kelley appeared before the Butler County Circuit Court on June 9, 2022, and pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree theft of property, a class C felony, as charged in the indictment returned against her by a Butler County Grand Jury on September 14, 2021.
The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit* conducted an investigation after being contacted by the Georgiana Police Department. The investigation determined that Kelley, while employed at Georgiana Health and Rehabilitation, had diverted 638 narcotics pills, including Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Tramadol and Lorazepam, from nursing home residents for whom the medications were intended. The thefts occurred between November 5, 2020, and January 19, 2021.
Kelley’s sentencing has been set for July 7. She faces one to 10 years imprisonment and up to a $15,000 fine for each of the four convictions.
“The defendant was entrusted with the care of vulnerable nursing home patients and instead she preyed upon them by depriving them of their medications for her personal use,” said Attorney General Marshall. “Her conviction should serve notice to others that the exploitation of nursing home patients will not be tolerated.”
Attorney General Marshall commended his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, including Assistant Attorney General Katie Langer, for its hard work in successfully prosecuting the case. He also thanked the management of Georgiana Health and Rehabilitation for its diligence in identifying and reporting the theft and for its cooperation in the investigation. He also expressed appreciation to the Georgiana Police Department for its invaluable assistance in the investigation.
*The Alabama Medicaid Fraud Control Unit operates under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General that provides 75 percent of its funding.
–30–
