TAMPA — A Lakeland nurse has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for stealing and tampering with fentanyl intended for hospital patients across the Tampa Bay area.
U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday sentenced 30-year-old Eric Brewer to five years and three months after he pleaded guilty in April to tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.
Federal prosecutors said Brewer, a licensed registered nurse, worked at multiple Tampa Bay hospitals where he repeatedly diverted fentanyl for his own use between June 2 and Sept. 12, 2023. Court records show he removed portions of the powerful painkiller from IV bags and syringes intended for patients, sometimes diluting the remaining drug with saline. Authorities said his actions showed “extreme indifference” to the risk of death or serious injury to patients…