A Westbrook woman who bought a bottle of fish oil capsules from a pharmacy in 2012, replaced some of the pills with stool softener capsules and anti-seizure medication, and then returned the bottle the next day was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland to one month in prison.
Kathy Jordan, 61, had pleaded guilty Feb. 19 before Judge Nancy Torresen to a federal offense of adulterating a food item with intent to defraud, rather than having the case against her presented to a grand jury.
Jordan was a regular customer at a CVS pharmacy in Westbrook within walking distance of her home and purchased the fish oil and two other items on April 3, 2012. She then returned all three items the next day for a full refund, according to a prosecution document filed with the court.
“On April 12, 2012, another customer purchased a bottle of fish oil capsules from the same retail pharmacy store. However, she returned the item the same day after she opened the bottle and discovered that it contained three different types of pills or capsules. The store pharmacist inspected the returned bottle and determined that it contained fish oil capsules, several phenytoin or Dilantin capsules, and stool softener,” Assistant U.S. Attorney James Chapman Jr. wrote in the document.
The retail store contacted the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Inspector General to investigate.
Jordan told investigators that she opened the fish oil bottle and removed some capsules but then replaced them with stool softener capsules and some of her Dilantin, an anti-seizure medication, so she could return them for a refund, Chapman wrote.
Jordan was also sentenced to serve one year of supervised release after completion of her prison term, pay a $100 fee and pay $6.29 in restitution for the bottle of capsules.
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