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Nurse accused of stealing prescription drugs from jail

Investigators say she took 16 pills of the muscle-relaxer Baclofen and 16 capsules of the anti-seizure medication Gabapentin.
Credit: Polk County Sheriff's Office

MULBERRY, Fla. — A nurse has been arrested for DUI and accused of stealing medication from a jail in Polk County.

Griseida Montanez, 39, of Brandon, was pulled over Thursday night for speeding in Mulberry.

The deputy who stopped her said he smelled marijuana and saw two partially-smoked cannabis cigarettes and a third unsmoked one in her vehicle.

Investigators say they also found a bag containing two urine specimen cups with various pills inside.

Authorities said there were 16 pills of the muscle-relaxer Baclofen and 16 capsules of the anti-seizure medication Gabapentin.

"Montanez was asked if the pills were prescribed to her and she said no," the Polk County Sheriff's Office wrote in a statement. "She stated she works as a nurse at the Polk County Jail and took the pills from the facility because they were scheduled to be destroyed. She admitted that she had no authority to remove the medication from the facility."

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Montanez is employed by Corizon Health and has been working as a registered nurse at the South County Jail in Frostproof. A spokesperson for the agency said Corizon Health administrators told deputies nurses are supposed to give unused pills back to the pharmacy for disposal.

"Ms. Montanez knew she was violating the law and continued to do so by stealing medication," Sheriff Grady Judd wrote in a statement. "Her actions are unacceptable and now instead of working in the jail, she was booked into the jail."

She was charged with two counts of grand theft of a controlled substance, two counts of possession of a drug without a prescription, possession of cannabis, possession of drug paraphernalia and DUI.

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