CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE (BNO NEWS) – On Wednesday, a former New Hampshire registered nurse was sentenced to 30 months in prison for tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, prosecutors said.

Trinidad Smith, 28, was a registered nurse licensed in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She worked at the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua, NH. Due to her status as a registered nurse she had access to a secure area containing prefilled syringes.

From September 2007 to April 2008, she removed the substances from the syringes replacing them with saline. She took Demerol and Dilaudid, both known as controlled drugs, for her personal use. She returned the syringes and vials to the secure area for the patients’ use.

Fortunately no patient was injured by Smith’s criminal actions. Further exams revealed that the syringes were diluted as much as 92% and two of them had their sterility compromised.