Federal charges filed against nurse accused of drinking
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — A suspended nurse who acknowledged drinking four or five beers in the hours before assisting an operation at a veterans’ hospital in northeastern Pennsylvania is now facing federal charges.
The U.S. attorney’s office on Friday charged 59-year-old Richard Pieri with reckless endangerment under a statute allowing state crimes to be charged in federal court for crimes committed in federal jurisdiction.
Authorities allege that Pieri stumbled into the Wilkes-Barre (WILKS’-ba-ree) VA Medical Center on Feb. 4 and aided in an emergency surgery. Prosecutors said he told investigators that he had forgotten he was on call and had been drinking at the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino.
Pieri resigned after he was charged in Luzerne County, but prosecutors later withdrew those charges, saying they expected the case to continue at the federal level.