MINNEAPOLIS – Earlier today in federal court, a registered nurse was sentenced for entering a hospital in May of 2010, falsely representing herself as a nurse employed by the hospital, and then stealing a pain killer. United States District Court Judge David S. Doty sentenced Maria Anne Mihalik, age 31, of Superior, Wisconsin, to three years of probation, including 180 hours in a halfway house and work 150 hours of community service, on one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Mihalik was charged on February 11, 2011, and pleaded guilty on March 9, 2011.

In her plea agreement, Mihalik admitted to entering Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on May 5, 2010, and obtaining the controlled substance Dilaudid for her personal benefit.

Following today’s sentencing, Dan Henson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, Chicago Field Office, said, “The defendant in this case exhibited a blatant and heartless disregard for the patients she victimized. We commend the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its prosecution of this matter.”

This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration- Office of Criminal Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Svendsen.