Former N.H. care worker gets prison time for stealing children’s meds, replacing them with fake pills

A New Hampshire man was sentenced to two consecutive state prison terms for stealing children’s medications and replacing them with unknown substances while working at a residential care facility, Attorney General John Formella announced Tuesday. 

Thomas John Ball Poirier, 41, of Tilton, will serve two consecutive sentences of two to four years for “causing serious bodily injury to two children,” the attorney general’s office said in a press release. 

While working for Spaulding Academy and Family Services between July 3, 2020, and Dec. 22, 2020, Poirier allegedly stole medications prescribed to the facility’s residents, some of whom were younger than 13 years old.

He was accused of replacing the stolen medications with unknown substances, coloring them with markers to make them look like the actual medications. Authorities alleged he stole the stimulant methylphenidate, known by the brand name Ritalin, which is often used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 

Two of the children — one 12 years old at the time and the other 16 — experienced severe behavioral changes after their prescriptions were tampered with, the attorney general’s office said. 

On Nov. 21, 2022, Poirier pleaded guilty to felony charges of first degree assault, second degree assault, and obtaining a controlled drug by deceit. 

He will spend two to four years in prison on the first degree assault charge, immediately followed by another two-to-four-year sentence on the second degree assault charge, according to Formella’s office. Poirier will then serve a fully suspended sentence of 3.5 to seven years for obtaining a controlled drug by deceit. 

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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