Trainee at Little Rock VA center prison-bound over role in drug thefts, sales

A former pharmacy-tech trainee at Little Rock's John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital was sentenced Wednesday to 2 1/2 years in prison for her role in a conspiracy to distribute opioids that a co-worker had stolen from a hospital supplier.

Nikita Neal, 43, was sentenced below the four- to five-year penalty range recommended by federal sentencing guidelines after her attorney, Bill James of Little Rock, argued that she was a first offender with two young daughters at home and that a two-year sentence would be a harsh penalty for a nonviolent crime.

Neal pleaded guilty Oct. 26 to a charge of conspiracy to possess oxycodone with the intent to deliver, admitting that she distributed drugs to street-level dealers after the drugs were illegally obtained by pharmacy technician Satishkumar "Steve" Patel, 45, with assistance from another pharmacy technician, Alisha Pagan, 34.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes sentenced Patel to four years in prison and Pagan to 2 1/2 years. Patel was found responsible for $77,722 worth of fraud, while Pagan and Neal both acknowledged defrauding the government-run hospital for veterans out of $22,000.

All are required to make restitution to the supplier, McKesson Corp.

In late September, Patel admitted that between April 2014 and July 2016, he ordered oxycodone and hydrocodone, both controlled substances that are considered highly addictive and are sold for high per-pill prices on the street, through the hospital and then falsified payment invoices to hide his actions.

He also admitted using his trusted position to obtain cough syrup with promethazine, and Viagra and Cialis pills, from the supplier for resale on the street.

Patel said he would place the drugs in a tote bag and leave the bag in a pre-arranged spot in the hospital for Pagan to pick up. Pagan admitted that she would help Patel falsify invoices and then would pass the drugs to Neal.

Because the three had violated positions of trust and helped feed a national epidemic of opioid addiction, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hunter Bridges sought sentences within the guideline range, which in Patel's case was 57 to 71 months, or nearly six years in prison.

Bridges noted that most heroin users first get hooked on opioids, which often come from people in positions of trust, like the hospital employees. He argued that higher sentences would serve as a deterrence to others in the health-care industry.

Several of Neal's family members sobbed and hugged one another outside the courtroom after the sentencing.

In a sentencing memorandum, James said Neal, who also has two older children, has arranged for her aging parents and a sister to take care of her two young daughters during her incarceration.

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Metro on 02/15/2018

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