Wakonda, South Dakota pharmacist pleads guilty of stealing painkillers over near three-year period

SIOUX FALLS — A Wakonda, South Dakota, pharmacist has pleaded guilty of stealing prescription painkillers from a hospital and its pharmacy for nearly three years.District Court in Sioux Falls to one count of theft in connection with health care.Carstensen has agreed to pay $4,097 in restitution to Landmann-Jungman Memorial Hospital in Scotland, South Dakota, and Scotland Pharmacy.Judge's gavel in a courtroom, stack of law books As part of a plea agreement filed in the case, three counts of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge will be dismissed.

Carstensen stole hydrocodone, oxymorphone, oxycontin, oxycodone and morphine from the hospital and its associated pharmacy from June 2019 through February 2022.Carstensen admitted to stealing the drugs from several shipments delivered to the hospital and using them for his own purposes.