Former Registered Nurse from LeMars Sentenced for False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters and Aggravated Identity Theft

Chad Hoppe, age 49, from LeMars, Iowa, was sentenced July 9, 2026, to more than two years in prison after a march 9, 2026, guilty plea to false statements relating to health care matters and aggravated identity theft.

Evidence in the case revealed that between May 2024 and March 2025, Hoppe diverted fentanyl and dilaudid allegedly for patient use. Instead, he used the controlled substances personally and failed to complete or falsified the related health care paperwork. During this time, Hoppe was an Iowa licensed registered nurse. He inputted false orders for narcotics claiming to have permission from a licensed physician, when he did not. Hoppe diverted "staggering" amounts of liquid fentanyl and dilaudid. In March 2025, for example, while working as a supervisor, Hoppe pulled out over 9,000 mcg of fentanyl. The next closest staff member at the same facility pulled out a total of 700 mcg of fentanyl that month.

Hoppe was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand to 30 months' imprisonment and fined $1,000. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Hoppe was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.

The case was investigated by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals Investigations Division Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.plLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The case file number is 25-04042.

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