Bowie County man sentenced to jail for stealing fentanyl, he previously stole 600 vials of opioid drugs

A 38-year-old Bowie County man has been sentenced to federal prison for stealing fentanyl from a medical facility and tampering with medicine.

The office of U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox announced the news today.

Clifford Russell Harris pleaded guilty on June 16, 2020, to tampering with a consumer product, and he was sentenced to two years in federal prison on Oct. 22.

According to court information, Harris, who was a registered nurse at the time, broke into the secure drug storage area at Healthcare Express in Texarkana. He extracted fentanyl from the vials and refilled them with another substance, then returned the vials to their place.

Because Harris returned the vials to be used, Harris placed patients in serious danger of dying or being injured.

Harris admitted that he had acted with reckless disregard of the danger to patients and that his actions manifested an extreme indifference to that risk, according to Cox’s office.

The Bowie County native also stole 600 vials of morphine and Demerol from Healthcare Express five months before he stole the fentanyl.

This case was investigated by the Texarkana Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit and the Drug Enforcement Administration.