A St. Paul woman who allegedly used a fake name to get narcotics at a Burnsville hospital last fall pleaded guilty Monday to one of two felony charges.
Kathleen M. Staples, 45, pleaded guilty in Dakota County District Court to a controlled-substance crime in the fifth degree. A charge of theft by swindle was dismissed.
An emergency room employee at Fairview Ridges Hospital called police on Nov. 1 to say that a patient gave an apparently false name, Katherine M. Depiro. The woman was actually Staples, according to court documents.
While in the hospital, Staples was given morphine and Ativan. She was also given X-rays because she complained of shortness of breath and back, neck and chest pain. Hospital billing records valued the services she received at $3,082.
A judge sentenced Staples to 198 days in jail with credit for 55 days served, and up to seven years of probation. A prison sentence of 15 months was stayed, provided she does not violate probation or commit another crime.
She was also fined $100 and must pay restitution.
SARAH LEMAGIE
