Nathan Phelps

Green Bay (Wis.) Press-Gazette

BELLEVUE, Wis. — A woman convicted of taking morphine intended for elderly patients at an assisted-living facility will spend time in jail and must write apology letters to the victim's families.

Holly A. Knippel, 34, of Green Bay, was sentenced to 45 days in the Brown County Jail after she pleaded no contest to a charge of intentionally subjecting an individual at risk to abuse.

A three-year prison sentence was withheld, but she must write a letter of apology to the children and grandchildren of the two victims, according to online court records.

Knippel was charged last year after telling investigators she administered smaller than prescribed doses of morphine to a pair of patients before swallowing the contents of two partially-used morphine syringes in May 2012, according to court documents.

One patient was near death and being treated for her pain at Century Ridge Assisted Living Home where Knippel worked as a certified nursing assistant.

Knippel told investigators she did not think the patients in her care at the facility "needed the doses of morphine, and she would have never taken the morphine if she knew it would have caused them additional pain," the complaint said.

She said she had been working a lot, and took the drugs orally to help stay awake.

Six other charges were dismissed, but considered as part of sentencing. Knippel is eligible for work release from the jail and credit for good behavior.

Her jail sentence is scheduled to start Jan. 5.