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The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced Alejandro Gort, a 39-year-old from Denver, was sentenced to five years of probation after he pleaded guilty to obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and deception.
According to the plea agreement, Gort worked the night shift at a Denver hospital on March 3, 2021. He was assigned to care for a critically ill patient admitted to the Sick and Intensive Care Unit following emergency surgery for a head injury.
The patient was comatose and intubated when Gort was assigned to care for him. The defendant initiated a fentanyl drip to treat the patient’s pain, but stole the majority of the bag of fentanyl for his own use, concealing his crime by lowering the drip rate on the IV pump and failing to accurately document the flow rate in the patient’s medical record.
Gort then used this fentanyl at the hospital during his shift.
Later during the same shift, Gort drained a second bag of fentanyl hung for the patient into a cup, then filled the bag with saline to facilitate and conceal the theft.
Officials say Gort intended to take the cup of fentanyl for his personal use, but hospital staff interrupted him and escorted him out of the building.
According to other staff members, Gort’s drug use affected his behavior and clinical judgment. There is no evidence that the patient was harmed by the defendant’s act of illegally obtaining the fentanyl.
Gort participated in a voluntary interview with law enforcement agents on March 11, 2021. During that interview, Gort admitted that he diverted drugs from the hospital between late 2020 and the date the hospital confronted him.
Gort stated to officials he usually obtained fentanyl by falsely identifying the drug as “waste” that was to be discarded, but he kept the drugs for his personal use. He also admitted to using saline to waste fentanyl bags after diverting the fentanyl. Gort also stated he used the drugs at work.
Gort was sentenced to five years of probation.