DES MOINS, Iowa- A former pharmacy tech at a Des Moines hospital, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, for tampering with the drug fentanyl.
Thirty-year-old Victor Van Cleave accepted a plea-deal in February this year, admitting that while working at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines in the fall of 2016, he used a syringe to remove fentanyl from vials and then injected the drug into himself.
Van Cleave admitted then replaced the fentanyl with different fluid, and put the tampered vials back in storage. Van Cleave has been ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
This investigation was conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.