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  1. Press Releases

Former EMT Sentenced for Drug Tampering

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of Tennessee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 5, 2024

Memphis, TN – A Cordova, Tennessee woman has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for tampering with a vial of Benadryl while on duty as an Emergency Medical Technician. Reagan Fondren, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

According to information presented in court, Cleola Hogan, 40, was working her shift as an EMT on March 20, 2022, when she removed Benadryl from a vial using a syringe and injected the Benadryl into her arm.  Hogan then replaced the missing Benadryl with saline solution and glued the cap back onto the Benadryl vial. Benadryl is commonly used to treat patients with severe allergic reactions, and replacing Benadryl with saline would place patients who needed Benadryl at risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Hogan entered a guilty plea on September 3, 2024, to tampering with a consumer product with reckless disregard that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury.

On December 4, 2024, Chief United States District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Hogan to 12 months and one day of incarceration with a three-year period of supervised release to follow.  Hogan was also ordered to undergo drug and mental health treatment and counseling.  There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was investigated by the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, working with the Priority Ambulance Diversion Task Force.

Acting U.S. Attorney Reagan Fondren thanked Assistant United States Attorney Carroll L. André III and former Assistant United States Attorney Courtney Lewis who prosecuted this case, as well as the law enforcement partners who investigated the case.

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