A nurse told a Butler County judge Thursday during her sentencing that she was stressed out about her husband's health when she stole fentanyl drug patches from her elderly dementia patients.

Judge Timothy McCune sentenced Jessica M. Kamerer, 37, of Butler to two years of probation for endangering the welfare of a care-dependent person for whom she was responsible and possession of a controlled substance, both misdemeanors to which she pleaded guilty Jan. 12.

Kamerer must also pay a $100 fine and a restitution order for $104. Kamerer committed the crime Feb. 6, 2020, while she was a nurse at the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Butler, and she told McCune that she still works there and has maintained her sobriety.

Kamerer's lawyer, Stephen Misko, said that at the time of the crime she was stressed because her husband was having seizures, and “this isn't her taking something for kicks. She had a substance problem.”

He noted that she has stayed sober since then and has retained her job with Sunnyview. Police originally said Kamerer was suspended from Sunnyview pending the outcome of the investigation.

Police charged Kamerer Feb. 16 with 15 criminal counts, among them three felonies for fraudulent acquisition of a controlled substance.

Investigators said Sunnyview's nursing director, Heidi Coyle, notified police Feb. 10, 2020, of the suspected theft by an employee. She advised police the defendant had taken three patches between Feb. 6 and 8, 2020. Those patches, police said, were prescribed for two patients, ages 85 and 90, housed in the facility's secure dementia unit.

Kamerer apparently came under suspicion while still at work, and Coyle questioned her Feb. 10, 2020. The defendant acknowledged taking the patches.

Police later interviewed Kamerer, who admitted the theft and told them about her stress over her husband's health issues.

According to charging documents, Kamerer admitted to police she went into one of the patient's rooms Feb. 6, 2020, supposedly to change the patient's patch. Instead, police said, she took the fentanyl patch out of the medication cart and pocketed it. “She stated that she then placed a piece of cloth tape over the old fentanyl patch that was already on (the patient's) back and wrote the date (Feb. 6) on the tape,” documents further report.