Crestwood Man Sentenced to Over 6 Years in Federal Prison for Narcotics-Related Offenses

Louisville, KY - A Crestwood man was sentenced on July 20, 2026, to 6 years and 5 months in federal prison for narcotics-related offenses.

U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Marie Maguire of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, Metro Washington Field Office, and Chief Paul L. Humphrey of the Louisville Metro Police Department made the announcement.

Matthew Ryan Elkins, age 41, of Crestwood, Kentucky, was sentenced to 6 years and 5 months for tampering with consumer products, acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deceit, and subterfuge and burglary involving controlled substances. The Court also imposed a $15,000 fine and three years on supervised release following his incarceration. Elkins also forfeited his Kentucky nursing licenses.

Elkins' convictions stem from an arrest on March 21, 2024, by LMPD. Elkins, a contract nurse anesthetist for a Louisville pain treatment center, was caught by patrol officers in the act of burglarizing the pain treatment center and removing controlled substances intended for patients.

Patients of the pain treatment center were typically palliative care patients, patients with histories of cancer, spinal injuries, brain injuries, failed back surgeries, or other severe diseases. Intrathecal pain pumps were implanted to treat these patients, for whom all other therapies had proven ineffective. The liquid medications in these pumps were refilled periodically using a pre-filled syringe containing pain medicine, bearing the patient's name and filled according to each patient's needs. Prior to filling the patient's pump, the pre-filled syringe was stored in the office safe.

Elkins admitted to LMPD officers that he had been removing narcotics from the office twice a week for at least three months. Elkins described how he would remove pain medications from pre-filled syringes (intended for specific patients' pain pumps), deposit the pain meds into a separate vial, and save them for personal use. After removing the pain medications from the syringes, Elkins would refill them with sodium chloride and place them back in the safe in an attempt to evade detection. As a result, patients received heavily diluted and adulterated medications. Elkins' actions caused patients to suffer extreme pain, sickness, and other withdrawal symptoms.

United States Attorney Kyle Bumgarner stated, "Matthew Elkins abused the trust of his patients and this community by stealing essential medications from vulnerable victims, tampering with their medications to avoid detection, and causing them severe injury. Today's sentence is the result of seamless cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement and reaffirms our commitment to seek justice for vulnerable victims."

There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, Metro Washington Field Office, the Louisville Metro Police Department, and the Kentucky Office of the Inspector General, Drug Enforcement and Professional Practices Branch.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin McKenzie prosecuted the case.

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