MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Mid-South nurse indicted on 37 criminal charges after she was found having meth, marijuana and hundreds of stolen prescription pills in her possession has pleaded guilty to seven of them and given nearly six years of diversion.
According to reporting done by WREG’s Jessica Gertler, state troopers responded to a crash on I-40 in Fayette County near mile marker 42 and found LaTisha Hayden’s Dodge Charger on the side of the road stuck in mud.
Responding law enforcement said they smelled “a strong smell of marijuana” and located “smoked, rolled cigarettes” under the driver’s seat that reeked of the drug. They also found “a glass pipe with white residue.”
In the back seat, there was “a pillow case with various types of prescription medication” with “600 pills.” They were “prescribed to different people.”
According to the indictment that medication belonged to her patients at a local children’s behavioral facility.
Troopers said once they put Hayden in handcuffs, she confessed to having methamphetamine in her anus. Officers allowed her to remove it. They said it weighed four grams.
We got a copy of the indictment, which provided more details about the drugs she allegedly stole including different types of antibiotics, mood stabilizers and blood pressure medications.
Below is a list of the medications she is accused of stealing:
- Cephalexin
- Sertraline
- bupropion hydrochloride
- aripiprazole
- amoxicillin
- augmentin
- lithium
- prazosin hydrochloride
- clonidine hydrochloride
- prazosin
- propranolol
- oxcarbazepine
- lamotrigine
- olanzapine
- latuda
- risperidone
- hydroxyzine pamoate
- aripiprazole
- sertraline
That was in December 2018. Weeks later, Hayden bonded out of jail and the staffing company she worked for fired her. It’s unclear if she gained employment at another facility.
Her license to practice was still active as of November 26.
On Tuesday, WREG learned Hayden had pleaded guilty to seven counts in this case. The original meth and marijuana charges were both bumped down to simple possession, a misdemeanor.
She also pleaded to misdemeanor thefts, paraphernalia and possession of a legend drug without a prescription charges.
