A licensed practical nurse has been arrested by Denver police and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration for the theft of a large amount of the drug Fentanyl, described as several times more potent than morphine, said Detective John White.
Keith Warren Little, 35, of Aurora, was arrested Monday after a four-month investigation into the theft of the drug, which is used extensively as an anesthetic for outpatient surgery, White said.
Arrest records show Little was arrested on a felony charge of distribution, sale or possession of a controlled substance and for obtaining a controlled substance.
Several large vials of Fentanyl – with a potential street value of $48,000 – were discovered to be missing from a medicine dispensing machine at the Colorado Acute Long Term Hospital, 1601 Lowell Blvd., in July, White said.
The hospital, located in the Centura Senior Life Center next to Sloan’s Lake, provides care for patients expected to be hospitalized for extended periods of time. Telephone calls to the hospital weren’t returned Tuesday night.
Little has a record of arrests for assault and drugs, and in August of last year pleaded guilty in Arapahoe County District Court to a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana. A felony charge of obtaining a controlled substance through fraud or deceit was dismissed in that case, court records show.
One of the questions on the application for a Colorado license as a practical nurse is whether the applicant has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony, misdemeanor or petty crime. Little renewed his license in July of 2004, according to an online database. The next month he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug charge.
Little has been released on $5,000 bond, White said.
Staff writer Jim Kirksey can be reached at 303-820-1448 or jkirksey@denverpost.com.
