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September 21, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Virginia Resident Indicted by Federal Grand Jury

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - A 54 year old Virginia Beach, Virginia, resident was named in a 78-count Indictment returned on September 18, 2012, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Martinsburg.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that: PAULA S. HIGH is charged with 78 counts of Acquiring, Obtaining, and Possessing Controlled Substances by Mispresentation, Fraud, Forgery and Deception. The Indictment alleges that from April 13, 2007, to May 14, 2009, HIGH, while a Registered Nurse assigned to the ER of the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, in Martinsburg, acquired controlled substances using an account assigned and authorized to her through her employment. However, instead of administering the medication to a patient, HIGH kept the controlled substances for personal use. If convicted, HIGH faces up to 4 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on each of the counts.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn A. Morgan and was investigated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs/Office of Inspector General.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.