Former Humboldt Park pharmacy tech sentenced for stealing, selling opioids

A former pharmacy technician who worked in Humboldt Park was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing and selling opioids for profit over two years.

Elizabeth Cruz, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to deliver, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Her co-defendant, Jacqueline Green was sentenced to a year and one day in prison in July.

They conspired to steal 56,108 pills of hydrocodone between October 2015 and December 2017 when they worked at Allcare Discount Pharmacy, 2750 W. North Ave., prosecutors said.

The pair falsified the pharmacy’s inventory to make it look like pills were either dispensed to patients or had never been received from the distributor, prosecutors said. They then sold them outside of the pharmacy for a profit of about $10,800.

“When trusted pharmacy employees illegally divert powerful and addictive pain medications for misuse, they put individuals and their families at increased risk of drug dependence and overdose,” Special Agent Robert J. Bell said in the statement. “This strong prison sentence is recognition of the seriousness of the opioid crisis.”

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