Ex-Macomb County morgue worker pleads no contest in drug theft case
A former Macomb County morgue worker is to be sentenced next month on charges involving drugs stolen from the county medical examiner’s office.
Jocelyn Fetting, 33, pleaded no contest to delivery of suboxone, delivery of Adderall, conspiracy with intent to deliver and larceny of a building, all felony offenses, according to a news release Thursday from the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office. Adderall is a stimulant used to treat conditions like attention deficit disorder; suboxone, which contains an opioid, is used to treat opioid addiction.
Authorities said Fetting intended to sell the drugs. Charges against Fetting and another former morgue worker were announced in February. Fetting entered the plea Wednesday in the county's circuit court and is to be sentenced Aug. 30. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as one at sentencing.
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"The defendant's actions not only betrayed her former colleagues, but also compromised the safety and well-being of the community. Let this be a lesson that the pursuit of personal gain, at the expense of integrity ultimately led to a self-inflicted sentence," Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in the release.
Fetting's attorney, Cy Abdo, said his client has no prior record, and was facing a time of personal hardship prior to the incident.
"She does not fit the mold of someone who would be involved in drug dealing," he said, adding this was "definitely a one-time incident" in her life.
Abdo said Fetting accepted responsibility, and they are going to ask for probation.
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Abdo said, "A series of the way things were handled at the morgue, in my opinion, were just an accident waiting to happen in terms of the way the drugs were stored and handled. But apparently, they've made corrections with that system."
Fetting and the other former morgue worker were arraigned earlier this year in connection with drugs being stolen from the medical examiner’s office in Mount Clemens. Both had been dismissed at the time Lucido’s office announced the charges.
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Jacob Kettlewell, then 50, was accused of taking an occasional pill from the medical examiner’s office and consuming it. He was charged with larceny, a 93-day misdemeanor, and use of a controlled substance, a one-year misdemeanor. He is scheduled for a pretrial Aug. 14 in 41B District Court in Clinton Township, according to online court records.
County officials announced in December that the two employees had been fired. They did not believe the employees were working together but were aware of what the other was doing, and said the investigation had been ongoing for a few months.
Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said in December that during the investigation, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office interviewed all 19 employees who had access to the property room. To prevent future incidents, the Sheriff's Office was going to take custody of medical inventory going forward.
This was the second time in three years the medical examiner's office was under fire. Four employees were fired in 2020 after alleged sexist and racist behavior, including a penis cake that appeared at the office the same week of George Floyd's death.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ex-Macomb County morgue worker pleads no contest in drug theft case
