Former Medical Case Management Coordinator Pleads Guilty To Tampering With Prescription Medications

DENVER - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announces that Shelbi Wolken, 35, of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product.

According to the plea agreement, as a case management coordinator for Intermountain Health, Wolken had access to electronic medical records and patients' personal identifying information. In July 2024, officials at Intermountain Health discovered that the Wolken had used a patient's information to pick up a prescription for oxycodone at the in-house pharmacy at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Denver. Wolken replaced the stolen medication with loratadine, an allergy medication. During further investigation, Wolken admitted to being addicted to opiates, and investigators found she had picked up approximately 139 prescriptions for approximately 127 patients between December 2023 and July 2024. Wolken replaced the stolen medications with a variety of ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophen, and lotradine. Several patients whose prescriptions were tampered with reported significant pain and post-surgical complications because they were unknowingly ingesting the wrong medication.

United States District Judge Nina Y. Wang presided over the hearing.

Sentencing will be held June 10, 2026.

The investigation was handled by Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Bryan Fields is handling the prosecution.

Case Number: 26-cr-00023-NYW