HIV-Positive Surgery Tech Sentenced To 6½ Years In Prison

DENVER (CBS4) - The surgery technician who pleaded guilty to taking fentanyl from patients at Swedish Medical Center was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison on Monday.

Rocky Allen, a former Navy medic who is also HIV positive, appeared before a judge in court on Monday morning. The theft of painkillers raised concerns that thousands of patients may have been exposed to the disease, as well as hepatitis B and hepatitis C, through possibly contaminated needles.

It cost $800,000 to test all the patients who may have been exposed to the diseases. The state health department found no evidence of HIV transferred from Allen to anyone else.

In court on Monday, neither Allen nor his attorney responded to the judge who asked if he would like to respond to those who suffered as a result of his actions.

Among his victims, he left an elderly woman on the operating table without pain killer and a burn victim waiting in surgery.

Allen was fired in January from the hospital in Englewood after another employee said he saw Allen switch a syringe containing fentanyl for one filled with saline.

Prosecutors had asked the judge for 120 months in prison, or 10 years.

Despite the fact that Allen pleaded guilty to the charges, his attorney fought to get his sentence below the prosecution's request. His attorney presented a long list of objections to the pre-sentence investigation including arguing that there was only minimal risk of harm to patients and that no one was hurt.

Allen's attorney also requested that he be allowed to visit his family in Idaho before surrendering for his sentence. The judge denied that request.

Allen's attorney also argued that Allen was abused as a child by his father as part of a cult ritual.

This wasn't Allen's first encounter with allegations of painkiller theft. He was fired from four hospitals around the West for similar allegations, including California, Washington and Arizona. All were put on alert and patients were tested as a precaution.

He was also court-martialed for stealing drugs while serving in Afghanistan in 2011.