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RACINE COUNTY — A certified nursing assistant at a skilled nursing facility in northwestern Milwaukee is accused of stealing prescription painkillers, including oxycodone hydrochloride and morphine sulfate, from her workplace and selling them.
Mariana Cooper, 31, from the 8700 block of West Herbert Avenue in Milwaukee, is facing four counts of manufacturing and delivering Schedule I and II narcotics, a class E felony.
According to the complaint:
Cooper allegedly sold pills she had acquired from her workplace to a confidential informant who was reporting to a special agent working with the Drug Enforcement Agency. The informant told officials that Cooper believed the pills were going to Racine County for resale.
During one of the exchanges, which was allegedly recorded on video, Cooper had told the informant she was upset because a coworker had been stealing the pills by reducing patients’ dosages. Cooper later denied shorting or stealing from patients.
Cooper allegedly told agents that she had observed pills laying out on desks at work and would swipe them. She also said that a mobile pharmacy was really sloppy with tracking medications, according to the report.
On Oct. 25, the informant arranged to buy 60 oxycodone pills from Cooper outside a Cousins Subs in Milwaukee. Cooper gave them 30 15-milligram and 30 10-milligram pills of oxycodone in exchange for $450. In a video of the exchange, Copper allegedly said she had more to sell.
On Nov. 3, the informant placed another recorded phone call to Cooper to purchase more pills for $530. An agent observed Cooper leave her workplace to go meet the informant, and she gave the informant 42 15-milligram and 28 10-milligram oxycodone pills.
On Nov. 17, the informant contacted Cooper who asked the informant to meet her at her residence to purchase 30 30-milligram pills of oxycodone. While en route the informant informed agents that Cooper had called to change the location of the exchange to the 6400 block of North 87th Street.
During the exchange, Cooper allegedly told the informant that due to an ordering mistake at work, she had been able to acquire a lot of pills without anyone noticing.
Other drugs offered
On Dec. 15, the informant contacted agents about purchasing 29 morphine pills from Cooper for $120. The informant called Cooper to ask if she had anything else. When they met, Cooper gave the informant 5 blue pills she claimed were valium because the informant had been trying to get something other than morphine.
The blue pills had gotten wet and had no identifying marks, so there was no way of confirming what they were, according to the complaint.
At her initial appearance on Monday in Racine County Circuit Court, Cooper’s bond was set at $5,000. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14.