(Former) Lake Regional Nurse Pleads Guilty to Stealing Fentanyl

An Osage Beach nurse could spend up to four years without parole in a federal prison after entering a guilty plea to illegally obtaining fentanyl from a hospital for his own use.

The U.S. Attorney Western District of Missouri office says 65-year-old Charles Welch Junior also waived his right to a grand jury on one count of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation.

It had been alleged that Welch would steal the fentanyl…one for a medical procedure at Lake Regional Hospital and one for his own use from automated dispensing cabinets at the hospital between a time period of July 1 through August 21, 2023.

A pre-sentence investigation will be conducted by the U.S. Probation Office before Welch will be formally sentenced.