TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Lakeland nurse has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to stealing fentanyl from patients across Tampa Bay.
Fight at Mobile lounge ends in assault charge
U.S. Attorney Greg Kehoe’s office said Eric Brewer, 30, worked at multiple hospitals in the Tampa Bay area and stole or tampered with fentanyl at five of them.
In 2023, Brewer took needles, syringes and saline flushes from a supply room, entered the room of another nurse’s patient, and stole from the patient’s fentanyl drip by redirecting it into a cup. Kehoe’s office said Brewer repeated this seven times between June 2 and September 12.
He also stole the medication directly from the secured lockers where it’s kept. On other occasions, Brewer diluted the supply with saline and kept the amount he siphoned off for personal use, and stopped a patient’s fentanyl IV pump to take from it…