A registered nurse in York County has been sentenced on several charges of stealing drugs and falsifying private records in connection with the theft of the prescription opioids from the hospital where he worked.

Michael T. Worrick-Soule of Wells pleaded guilty in York County Superior Court on Jan. 31 to 10 counts of stealing drugs and three counts of falsifying private records after several thefts of meperidine, hydromorphone, fentanyl and morphine from York Hospital in 2011 and 2012. Worrick-Soule had recently become licensed as a registered nurse when he began stealing drugs from the hospital’s emergency room, according to a release from the Maine Attorney General’s office.

Worrick-Soule was sentenced on March 26 on two of the drug charges to two years in prison with all but six months suspended. He was sentenced to a second consecutive term of two years in prison, all of it suspended, and four years of probation.

He received concurrent sentences of two years in prison, all suspended, on the remaining drug charges and concurrent sentences of six months, all suspended, on the charges of falsifying records. He was also ordered to pay $4,000 in fines and $8,318 in restitution.

He is also prohibited from accepting any employment that would give him access to controlled substances. His nursing license is currently under suspension.

“The diversion of prescription drugs to fuel abuse continues to be a major problem in Maine,” said Attorney General Janet Mills. “We have made progress in making these substances harder to abuse and more difficult to obtain, however pharmaceutical opioids caused 101 of the 163 drug-induced deaths in Maine in 2012.”

The case was investigated by the Maine Office of Attorney General’s Healthcare Crimes Unit, the York Police Department, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.


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