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A Sheffield woman faces six felony charges after allegedly stealing prescription drugs from the pharmacy where she was employed.
Alyssa R. McDowell, 34, of Sheffield was charged with five counts of acquiring or obtaining possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge; five counts of intentional possession of a controlled substance by a person not registered, third-degree felony theft by unlawful taking – movable property and misdemeanor theft by unlawful taking – movable property after an investigation involving the state Attorney General’s office. McDowell was arraigned Tuesday by Magisterial District Court Judge Raymond Zydonik, who set bail at $100,000 unsecured. Charges were originally filed on Oct. 14.
According to the criminal complaint filed by the Attorney General's office, McDowell diverted more than 90,000 of hydrocodone and oxycodone tablets, both Schedule 2 narcotics, between Jan. 1, 2020 and May 2026, while she worked at the Sheffield Pharmacy by removing multiple 100-pill bottles numerous times from deliveries made to the pharmacy from McKesson Pharmaceuticals, taking possession of the medication and then allegedly failing to document the bottles in the inventory. The criminal complaint also details instances of medication being removed from a returned package to the Ruth Smith Center nursing home that was to be given to one of the nursing home's residents.
"This defendant used her position to obtain a massive amount of highly-addictive medications," Attorney General Sunday said. "This type of conduct fuels a prescription drug abuse crisis that, so often, leads to individuals using fentanyl and heroin."
Between January 2022 and May 2026, investigators allege, McDowell diverted 80,926 Oxycodone pills and 8,744 Hydrocodone pills. McDowell ordered extra bottles, which she took for herself, then altered paperwork in attempts to conceal the thefts.
The case will be prosecuted by the Warren County District Attorney's Office.
The investigation began in February when the Attorney General's office received a report from a Conewango Township Police officer, who had been told of a State Police at Warren report from an anonymous caller of a pharmacy technician allegedly stealing prescription medication and selling them. The Attorney General's Office investigator visited the Sheffield Pharmacy on April 16 and met with the Sheffield Pharmacy's pharmacist. The pharmacist told the investigator that the store's inventory was not scheduled to be updated until August, with the investigator noting Class 2 medications were not secured and were dispersed within the pharmacy. By April 30, the pharmacist said he had found a large number of hydrocodone tablets missing. A follow-up visit on May 8 found large amounts of hydrocodone and oxycodone missing.
McDowell allegedly had been in control of drug ordering and receiving to the pharmacy since 2018, with authority to enter the reordering program and adjust the amounts of medication for delivery.
"He stated that she has been doing most of the ordering with McKesson and at the same time she controlled the deliveries coming into the facility," the affidavit states. "(The pharmacist) had pulled the inventory records for the deliveries from a three-ring binder and printed the delivery request orders made to McKesson from his computer. He then compared the order number of bottles for each delivery from McKesson to the amounts documented by McDowell in the handwritten inventory sheets. He immediately began locating differences in the amounts ordered and delivered with the amounts documented in the inventory sheet by McDowell. These differences were significant over this 14-month time frame starting in January of 2024 to May of 2026."
On June 1, the pharmacist called the Attorney General's Office investigator to report that the administrator of the Ruth Smith Center nursing home in Sheffield regarding medication that had been dropped off at the Sheffield Pharmacy in May, returning hydrocodone medication along with other medications. The pharmacist went through the bags and found the hydrocodone wasn't in the bags.
Investigators continued to audit delivery records and inventory sheets, with the investigation showing McDowell allegedly was ordering one to three additional bottles of 100 tablets for both hydrocodone and oxycodone, then would not document how many pills were actually delivered.
"She fraudulently documented many times in the inventory numbers less than what was delivered," the investigator said in the criminal complaint. "She was then able to gain control over the extra medication delivered while placing the needed amounts into inventory to cover prescribing and and at the same time cover her thefts."
McDowell had been serving as one of the Sheffield town supervisors. She has resigned that post, according to a letter from Sheffield township officials to Sheffield residents on Tuesday, though the resignation was unrelated to the Attorney General’s Office charges, according to the letter.
“We want to clarify the limited role of Sheffield Township in this mater,” Cara Schader, town secretary/treasurer, wrote. “This is an ongoing police investigation and is not a matter being handled, directed or investigated by Sheffield Township or the township supervisors. The township has no authority over the investigation, the evidence or any decisions made by law enforcement. We will cooperate with law enforcement as appropriate and provide any assistance that may be legally required of the township. However, questions regarding the circumstances of this case or the ongoing investigation should be directed to the appropriate law enforcement agency.”