PORTLAND — A Bath pharmacist who worked at a Brunswick hospital will serve two weeks in prison after being convicted of stealing drugs in connection with the theft of prescription pain and sleep medication.

John W. Underwood pleaded guilty in Cumberland County Superior Court to two counts of stealing drugs stemming from a series of thefts of the opiate Oxycodone and the sleep medication Ambien from Mid-Coast Hospital in Brunswick. He served as the hospital’s pharmacy manager at the time and diverted drugs from the hospital in 2011 and 2012 for his personal use, according to a press release from Maine Attorney General Janet T. Mills.

A judge this week sentenced Underwood to two years in prison, with all but two weeks suspended followed by two years on probation on the felony charge involving Oxycodone. He was ordered to serve a two-week sentence at the same time on the charge involving Ambien. He was also ordered to pay $800 in fines.

A condition of Underwood’s probation bars him from accepting any job that would give him access to controlled substances, such as Oxycodone. His license to practice as a pharmacist was revoked by the Maine Board of Pharmacy in April 2012.


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