MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, a 40-year-old nurse employed at a senior care assisted living facility pleaded guilty to stealing the narcotic Percocet. Bert Allen Sieler, of Coon Rapids, pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Sieler, who was charged on August 30, 2011, entered his plea before United States District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen.

            In his plea agreement, Sieler admitted that in February of 2011 he obtained the Percocet intended for patients by removing it from patient medication bottles and replacing it with acetaminophen, commonly sold as Tylenol.

            For his crime, Sieler faces a potential maximum penalty of four years in prison. Judge Ericksen will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled. This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-Office of Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Minneapolis Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Svendsen.

###