Jacqueline Brewster, 55, of Belfry, Kentucky, was sentenced on Thursday, July 3, 2025, to five years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information. According to court documents and statements made in court, Brewster was employed as a travel nurse at Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley from September 2021 until February 2022. Brewster admitted that she unlawfully accessed and used individually identifiable health information of patients at Raleigh General Hospital to divert hydromorphone, an opioid, for her personal use.
To carry out her diversion scheme, Brewster fraudulently obtained the hydromorphone from automated controlled substance dispensing machines at Raleigh General Hospital. Brewster used her personal biometrics to access the machines and a patient’s individually identifiable health information to begin the process of checking out hydromorphone for that patient. Once the machine’s secure drawer opened, Brewster siphoned off a portion of hydromorphone from its vial and diluted what remained in the vial with another substance to make it appear full. Brewster then canceled or nulled the transaction to conceal her removal of the controlled substances. Brewster admitted that she carried out her scheme to use individually identifiable patient health information and steal hydromorphone under false pretenses and for personal gain many times from on or about September 17, 2021, through on or about February 1, 2022.