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Nika Elise Larsen, an Oregon State Police forensic scientist, pleaded guilty to federal charges that she used her position to steal pills submitted as evidence in drug cases.
(Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian)
A forensic scientist admitted Monday in U.S. District Court that she stole as many as 700 pills from 50 separate specimens of evidence submitted to Oregon State Crime labs over two years.
Nika Elise Larsen, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud and deception.
Larsen, who began working for the state in May 2007, admitted that she stole drugs, including morphine, hydrocodone, methadone and methamphetamine, while processing and overseeing cases. An investigation found Larsen took the pills in Umatilla County between December 2013 and November 2014, and in Deschutes County between November 2014 and Aug. 27, 2015.
Larsen, who formerly worked on fingerprint and drug evidence as well as crime scene processing, told Judge Anna J. Brown that she also stole pills that the crime lab had purchased to use in their analysis of street drugs.
Oregon State Police launched an investigation in April 2015 after a forensic scientist in the Bend lab found 18 oxycodone pills were missing. Investigators found some pills were missing, partially missing or had been replaced with non-controlled substances -- all in cases handled by Larsen.
Investigators also found that Larsen had visited the Bend labs dozens of times on her days off or after hours and on 13 occasions had accessed evidence files.
Larsen will be formally sentenced in December. The plea deal outlines a potential three years in prison for both charges along with court-mandated drug, alcohol and mental health counseling.
The maximum sentence for each charge was four years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
The agreement also releases Larsen from any potential charges filed by any district attorney in the state. That was an unusual stipulation made because Larsen's crimes potentially affected more than 2,500 drug cases statewide.
In Deschutes County, where Larsen last worked for the lab, she had been assigned to more than 500 cases.
All pending cases that relied on Larsen's analysis were dismissed or a continuance was sought in hopes of retesting evidence. If the continuance was denied, the case was dismissed.
In Umatilla County, 70 cases have been dismissed and another 40 are expected to be dismissed, according to court filings.
Larsen told investigators that the drugs she took were for personal use and that she didn't share or sell the drugs to others. She also told investigators what drugs she took from lab supplies and how she stole drugs from evidence, according to the court filings.
Court records also showed she completed a drug alcohol treatment program.
"We profoundly regret our scientist's behavior and any adverse impact it has had on our professional partners or the administration of justice," the Oregon State Police wrote in an emailed statement. "We are redoubling our commitment to delivering the consistently professional service that built our hard-earned reputation for excellence."
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