CONCORD – A former Nashua pharmacy technician has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges accusing her of tampering with consumer products and unlawfully obtaining controlled substances, U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire Scott W. Murray said Tuesday.

Hudson resident Kristina Coleman, 40, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 28, 2021, in U.S. District Court, Murray said.

The allegations against Coleman go back to January 2019, when she worked for a retail pharmacy chain in Nashua, Murray said.

According to court documents and court testimony, she agreed to deliver two prescriptions to an elderly patient, even though making deliveries was not among her job responsibilities, according to Murray.

When the patient checked her medication bottles, she discovered several pills were missing from her oxycodone prescription, Murray said. She also noticed some of the pills in the bottle were larger and had a different imprint than the oxycodone pills.

The larger pills were later determined to be baclofen, a muscle relaxant and anti-spasmodic agent, according to Murray.

Coleman later admitted to investigators that she took some of the oxycodone pills from the prescription, replaced them with baclofen, then gave the oxycodone pills to a friend to sell – for which Coleman received $80, Murray said.

Upon further investigation, it was revealed that Coleman had been stealing Suboxone from the pharmacy for her personal use. The drug comes in strips, and is typically prescribed to people battling substance use disorder.

Murray said Coleman admitted to stealing one strip per day for about a year.

Along with Nashua police detectives, the case was investigated by representatives of the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration Diversion Control Division.

“Drug diversion and tampering with consumer products are serious crimes that can endanger the lives of patients,” Murray said. “When criminals steal controlled substances and replace them with other drugs, patients are not only deprived of needed medicine but also may take a drug that they should not be taking.

“In some circumstances, this can create serious medical risks. In order to protect the health and safety of our citizens, we will not hesitate to pursue federal charges against health care workers who steal drugs from innocent victims,” Murray added.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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