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SALEM, N.H. — A former employee at an assisted living facility pleaded guilty in Rockingham Superior Court on Friday to a count of possession of a prescription drug, according to a statement from the office of New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald.

Court documents say that between March 13 and March 14, Stephanie McMahon, 39, of Derry was working as a resident care assistant at The Residence at Salem Woods when she took fentanyl patches from a resident’s room.

The facility, located at 6 Sally Sweets Way, is advertised as a luxury independent, assisted living, and memory care facility serving Salem, Windham, Londonderry, Hampstead, Derry, Atkinson, Pelham, Methuen and Haverhill.

McMahon was sentenced to a year in the Rockingham County House of Corrections, which was suspended for three years pending good behavior.

Conditions of the suspended sentence prevent McMahon from caring for the sick, elderly or vulnerable adults, according to court documents. She is also prohibited from working in any capacity that gives her access to medications and will remain on probation for two years.

Ted Doyle, vice president of marketing of LBC Senior Living, which owns the Salem senior living community and similar properties across New England, said McMahon worked in Salem for three and a half months before the drug theft.

McMahon was not authorized to administer or otherwise handle resident medication, he said.

“We have strict protocols when it comes to handling substances,” Doyle said. “(McMahon) inappropriately obtained access to the (patient’s) medication. We immediately noticed there was a discrepancy in the count and enacted our protocol.”

Doyle said staff at the facility conducted an internal investigation before contacting police, and were able to discover who stole the fentanyl patches within a couple days.

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General’s Office, the group that led the investigation, is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of healthcare providers accused to defrauding New Hampshire’s Medicaid program, as well as allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation of those who reside in board and care facilities.