Former Clark County EMS leader gets 12-month prison sentence for drug thefts

Justin Whitehead, assistant chief of EMS for Pleasant Twp., stole fentanyl and morphine from his other employer in Madison County
ajc.com

The Pleasant Twp. Fire Department’s former assistant chief of EMS operations was sentenced to 12 months in prison for two drug theft incidents that occurred when he worked at the Madison County Emergency Medical District.

Justin Whitehead, 38, was sentenced recently to two concurrent 12-month sentences for two fourth-degree felony counts of theft of drugs. He must also pay more than $2,000 in court costs.

He was ordered conveyed to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections facility in Orient.

Whitehead pleaded guilty to stealing fentanyl on or between May 1, 2023 and June 22, 2023 in Madison County, as well as morphine on or between June 7, 2023 and June 22, 2023, according to court records.

Pleasant Twp. Fire Chief Mike Willis said previously Whitehead started part-time work at the department in the early 2000s, and his work in Madison County was full time. Pleasant Twp. is in the northeast corner of Clark County, on the border with Madison County.

Willis said Pleasant Twp. receives its medications through the Greater Miami Valley Drug Bank Exchange, which means drugs are in sealed bags and much harder to steal. An investigation into Pleasant Twp. Fire and EMS found no missing drugs, Willis said.

Lt. Kristopher Shultz, the public information officer for the fire department, said that Whitehead has been on leave since shortly after the township learned of the case in October. The township trustees, with the advice of the county prosecutor, will make a decision on his overall employment at its next meeting.

Shultz said because Whitehead’s criminal case is outside of Clark County, employment decisions are not as straightforward as if he had been charged here.

“Part of the situation that we run into in these kind of things is the activity took place where that court doesn’t have jurisdiction over our fire department; it’s a different county,” Shultz said. “When we did the audits and the checks in Clark County at Pleasant Twp., we didn’t find anything ...”

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