TAMPA, Fla. (WWSB) – A registered nurse was sentenced to two years in federal prison for stealing drugs from a Tampa-area hospital, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Lauren Hornbuckle, 37, of Seminole, had pleaded guilty last August to tampering with a consumer product.
According to court documents, Hornbuckle worked at a hospital in the Tampa-Bay area. Between November 2023 and March 2024, Hornbuckle had access to injectable controlled substances, including morphine, hydromorphone and fentanyl.
The court records did not specify which hospital was involved.
Prosecutors say she removed the drugs in the vials and replaced them with saline. She then returned the containers into circulation and used the drugs for her own personal use.
“Hornbuckle acted with reckless disregard for the risk that patients would be in danger of bodily injury and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to such risk,” The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release on the sentence.
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