A Norris City woman will serve two years of probation after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony. Attorney General Kwame Raoul says Linnea O’Neal worked as a nurse at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion. In late 2021, she was accused of diverting several doses of fentanyl from the facility’s medication dispensing machine. Following an Illinois State Police investigation, she was arrested in November of 2022 and would eventually confess to the unlawful possession. As a first time offender, O’Neal will serve two years of probation. She’ll also have to perform 30 hours of community service, submit to drug testing and a treatment program, and pay $3,500 in fines and fees. Beyond that, she’ll no longer be allowed to be employed anywhere with access to controlled substances. In a press release, Raoul says, “The opioid epidemic has tragically affected too many people in Illinois, and we must take a comprehensive approach to addressing it,” Raoul said in a press release. “I am committed to holding accountable individuals who distribute fentanyl in our communities. Health care professionals who have access to addictive controlled substances must be held responsible for misusing them.” Assistant Attorney General Darren Price prosecuted the case for the Medicaid Fraud Bureau.
