FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A Port St. Lucie woman was sentenced to four years prison Tuesday for tampering with vials of liquid fentanyl at an outpatient surgery center in Jensen Beach where she worked as a nurse.
Catherine Dunton, 54, also was ordered by District Judge Aileen Cannon to serve three years of federal supervision after her release from prison. She had faced up to 10 years in prison.
On April 11, Dunton entered a guilty plea in a federal district court in Fort Pierce. She was charged with tampering with medical-grade fentanyl.
Federal prosecutors said Dunton was working as a nurse at the The Surgery Center in the 3900 block of Northwest Goldenrod Road north of Treasure Coast Square mall in Jensen Beach. Dunton took vials of fentanyl and self-administered it by injection from February to April 2022, prosecutors said.
According to an indictment, Dunton removed liquid fentanyl from nearly 450 vials, refilled them with saline and returned the tainted vials to their location for use during surgeries.
“Three separate times she put patients at risk,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana said in court. “Not one time, or two times but three times.”
In March 2021, see told Lawrence Wilson, who specializes in addiction medicine and psychiatry, she started to occasionally consume alcohol and she experienced blackouts. In May a toxicology test was positive for fentanyl.
Wilson diagnosed Dunton with severe opioid use disorder and an alcohol addiction, and concluded she was "not able to practice nursing with reasonable skill and safety to patients."