NURSE CHARGED WITH DRUG THEFT

PLATTSBURGH -- A former registered nurse, who was hired at CVPH Medical
Center after being dismissed from hospitals in Vermont and Florida for drug
use, has been charged with stealing narcotic painkillers from the
Plattsburgh hospital for her own use.

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Sherry L. Jones then falsified the
hospital's records to conceal the thefts.

Jones also has been charged with lying on her New York state
nursing-license application for failing to report that:

- -- She had criminal charges pending against her in Vermont for the theft of
drugs.

- -- She had surrendered her license in Florida without contesting the
charges of taking drugs while on duty in at least four hospitals.

- -- Her license had been suspended in Vermont for stealing drugs and taking
them while on duty.

- -- She had been terminated from a series of hospitals in Florida and
Vermont or resigned in order to avoid termination.

Jones was arrested last week in Hammond, Ind., on an arrest warrant filed
by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

She waived extradition and was arraigned Wednesday in Clinton County Court
before Judge Patrick R. McGill on a 12-count indictment. She pleaded not
guilty, and bail was set at $150,000 cash. The matter was adjourned until
April 19.

"The defendant's history of drug theft and use while on duty is extensive,"
Spitzer said in a news release. "But perhaps more troubling is the ease in
which she could move from state to state and obtain work at various hospitals."

Spitzer said he hopes "this prosecution sends a clear message to all
health-care workers that my office will continue to aggressively ferret out
such criminal activity."

Jones began the process of applying for a New York nursing license in May 2001.

On June 5, she applied for a nursing position at CVPH, indicating that her
license application was pending. She was hired June 20.

Eight days later, Jones was issued her license after stating under oath
that she had no criminal charges pending against her, that no adverse
action had ever been taken against her license and that she had never been
terminated or resigned to avoid termination.

At various times on the evening of Oct. 1 and the morning of Oct. 2, Jones
allegedly stole quantities of the narcotic drug Demerol for her own
personal use.

To conceal the thefts, Jones falsified the hospital's records to indicate
that the drugs had been administered to patients, prosecutors say.

Jones, who is also known as Sherry Goodman and Sherry L. Eicke, lives at
245 North Main St., St. Albans, Vt. She worked at CVPH from June 2001 until
Oct. 2, 2001, when she was placed on administrative leave.

Jones is charged with eight counts of first-degree falsifying business
records and one count each of first-degree offering a false instrument for
filing, second-degree making an apparently sworn false statement, petit
larceny and second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

If convicted, she faces up to four years in prison.

In the news release, Spitzer thanked CVPH's administration and staff for
their cooperation and assistance during the investigation and for referring
the case to his office.

Also participating were the Clinton County District Attorney's Office, the
State Department of Education, the Vermont and Florida Boards of Nursing
and the Vermont Attorney General's Office in Chittenden County.