(MONTGOMERY)–Attorney General Luther Strange announced the arrest of a former employee of a Cullman County nursing home for theft of controlled substances. Keith Wade Brumbeloe, 48, of Remlap, turned himself in to the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and was later released on a $10,000 bond.
The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit presented evidence to a Cullman County grand jury resulting in an indictment* on July 10 charging Brumbeloe with second-degree theft of property. The charges allege that Brumbeloe, a licensed practical nurse (LPN) at Woodland Village Rehabilitation and Health, stole hydrocodone that had been prescribed to residents of the facility. The investigation was initiated after another employee of the facility noticed discrepancies in the internal narcotics logs and other missing paperwork. As an LPN, Brumbeloe was responsible for the distribution and documentation of patient medication. A review of the facility’s video system showed further evidence of the theft.
Theft of property in the second degree is a class C felony with a possible sentence of a year and a day to ten years of incarceration in the Alabama Department of Corrections. Because hydrocodone is a controlled substance, the theft is automatically classified as in the second degree.
Attorney General Strange thanked the staff and administration of Woodland Village Rehabilitation and Health for their vigilance in discovering and reporting the theft, and commended his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for the investigation of the case.
*An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
