A lead pharmacy fill technician at a company serving assisted living communities has been charged with stealing almost $519,000 worth of a drug commonly used to treat opioid addiction, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
Rena Schleehauf allegedly took 2,206 boxes (66,180 units) of buprenorphine and naloxone (Suboxone) from her former employer, Johnson’s Pharmaceutical Services in West Mifflin, PA, between 2016 and 2019. She since has admitted the theft, stating that she took the drug for her personal use, according to the attorney general and charging documents.
“Time and again, this defendant ordered drugs, paid for them with company funds, removed them from the company’s inventory once they arrived and then loaded them into her car when no one was watching,” Shapiro said.
After the ordering and theft of the drug was discovered, Johnson’s conducted an audit and found that orders for the drug were placed only when Schleehauf was working, and surveillance video also showed Schleehauf leaving Johnson’s to place boxes of the drug in her car, according to the attorney general.
Schleehauf has been charged with delivery of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception.
