Former Central Vermont pharmacist gets probation for third drug theft

Nov. 15, 2022  |  By Mike Donoghue | Correspondent

BURLINGTON – A former Central Vermont pharmacy manager has been sentenced in U.S. District Court to serve three years on federal probation after he was caught stealing drugs for a third time, court records show.

Brian Thomas Badgley, 37, of Waterbury, had his state pharmacy license suspended by the Vermont Pharmacy Board after the latest diversion of opioids was detected at the CVS drug store in Berlin in September 2021, court and disciplinary records show.

Badgley had been caught earlier stealing drugs from a pharmacy in Texas in 2015 and from the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans in 2016, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in court papers.

Those two prior instances resulted in the State of Vermont’s Board of Pharmacy placing strict conditions for three years on Badgley's license to practice pharmacy. Badgley’s license was fully reinstated in 2020, and then suspended on September 24, 2021 when the Board learned of new allegations of tampering and obtaining controlled substances by fraud at his latest job at the CVS on U.S. 302 in Berlin, records show.

Berlin Police helped bring state charges last fall:  two felony counts of prescription fraud and single counts of embezzlement, petty larceny and reckless endangerment, records show.  Federal authorities expressed interest in January in filing two felony charges based on Badgley's criminal record and the state planned to drop its case.

Details about the pharmacy theft in Texas and any possible penalty were not disclosed in federal court papers.

Court records show that Vermont Superior Court Judge Robert Mello imposed an 18-month deferred sentence on Badgley for an unlawful trespass charge as part of the St. Albans hospital case and that drug and larceny charges were dropped in the plea bargain in Franklin County.

The deferred sentence allowed the Vermont criminal conviction to be wiped off his record and Badgley was permitted to get his pharmacy license back.

In the latest case, the federal sentencing guidelines, which are advisory, suggested a penalty between zero and six months in prison for Badgley making false entries into the pharmacy ordering system in order to steal drugs, court records show.

However, both the prosecution and defense agreed to a sentence of 3 years on probation, according to the signed plea agreement filed in July.  The maximum possible penalty was up to 4 years in prison, followed by up to 1 year on supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine.

 Federal Judge Christina Reiss agreed with no prison time and placed Badgley on probation for three years with strict conditions.  She also assessed him $439 in restitution and court costs during the sentencing this month. 

The defense and prosecution have said they believe Badgley's career in pharmacy work has now ended permanently.

"This is not the first time he has abused a position of trust to steal opiates.  Defendant Badgley stole hydromorphone tablets from a pharmacy he worked at in Texas in 2015 ... and forced his entry into a cabinet in an operating room at a Vermont hospital to steal hydromorphone tablets in 2016," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ophardt wrote in court papers.

The St. Albans theft happened one day after Badgley was fired by the hospital, but he returned at night to commit the theft,  according to St. Albans Police Officer Randy Dame in court papers at the time. 

Badgley had moved on to working in property management last year and formed his own home remodeling business, B-Square Builders on Randall Street in Waterbury, in August, records show.

Berlin Police Officer Daniel Withrow reported he received a report Sept. 2, 2021 about a Berlin CVS employee stealing medication.

The state pharmacy board said a complaint had been filed that Badgley appeared to be impaired while administering a COVID vaccine on Sept. 1, 2021.  Badgley denied being impaired, records show.

Berlin Police reported Badgley admitted to stealing the liquid form of hydromorphone and would later dilute the remaining drug container to hide the theft, court records show. Withrow told the court that this caused sanitation concerns with the remaining liquid narcotic.

Police also said that the remaining diluted drug also could also be problematic because it would not work as an unopened dose. A patient might have to receive more of the diluted narcotic than usual, and then could potentially overdose if they were to later receive undiluted narcotic, according to court records.

In charging papers in the disciplinary case, the Pharmacy Board said that by diluting the drug, Badgley put lives in jeopardy.

Badgley initially pleaded not guilty in federal court to diverting hydromorphone hydrochloride tablets and solution between March and September last year by using fraud, forgery and deception.  The indictment said Badgley made false electronic entries into the pharmacy ordering system so hydromorphone hydrochloride tablets and solution were delivered to his store.

Badgley also denied a second federal count that he entered false pill counts into the pharmacy inventory system to obscure his thefts. The charge said he also used Benadryl and/or distilled water to try to avoid detection when he removed the hydromorphone hydrochloride solution from bottles.

During one of his federal court hearings last year, Badgley said he had been treated for narcotic addiction in 2016.

According to Berlin Police Officer Withrow in court records, Badgley reported he initially became addicted after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and undergoing major shoulder surgery.