3 days Ago
The former Lewis County Fire District 5 paramedic and medical services officer (MSO) charged in March for forging forms to order between 1,200 and 1,500 vials of narcotics and allegedly stealing more than 1,000 of the vials pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of forgery. Caitlyn Hoye, 29, was sentenced Thursday, Dec. 19, to one day in prison, with credit for one day served, and will be ordered to pay restitution to Lewis County Fire District 5.
The restitution amount will be determined via another hearing within 180 days of Hoye’s sentencing on Thursday. A restitution hearing had not been scheduled as of Thursday afternoon. “These are really difficult cases,” Judge James Lawler said to Hoye during her sentencing hearing on Thursday.
“In your employment as a paramedic, you’re in charge of caring for people who are injured, and you significantly impaired your department’s ability to do that.” The guilty plea and recommended sentence, which Lawler granted, was part of a settlement agreement negotiated between the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office and Hoye’s defense attorney, Christopher John Coker. “This case has had a heavy impact on the fire district and I’m not sure if they’re satisfied with this outcome,” Deputy Prosecutor Joe Bassetti said Thursday, adding that the evidence of forgery was “very clear” in this case, but the evidence of theft was much murkier.
“There was not a lot that turned up (during the investigation) as to what happened,” Bassetti said. Coker said that the defense would likely have had a strong case against the theft allegations, but acknowledged he didn’t know what a trial outcome would have been. “This is a strange case because the factual side of things is difficult to follow.
There are a lot of moving parts,” Coker said, later adding, “This is a negotiated resolution.” The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against Hoye in March 2024 after the Napavine Police Department completed an investigation into suspected inventory misuse at Lewis County Fire District 5, which is based out of Napavine. The misuse was reported on Aug.
15, 2023, at which time District 5 temporarily suspended its advanced life support (ALS) medical delivery service until the issue was resolved. District 5 resumed its ALS service in November 2023 after investigators confirmed no current District 5 employees were involved in the incidents that led to Hoye’s charges. Like other emergency medical service providers, District 5 stocks doses of the highly addictive opioids fentanyl, hydromorphone and morphine to be used as painkillers in extreme circumstances.
While District 5 typically uses 100 to 150 vials of narcotics total per year, Hoye ordered 425 vials of fentanyl, 475 vials of hydromorphone and 275 vials of morphine between January 2023 and Aug. 8, 2023, according to court documents. She forged the signature of former District 5 Chief Dan Mahoney on the forms required to order the narcotics.
“When asked why she ordered so many narcotics, (Hoye) stated that the other vials were not good so she had to order more,” according to court documents. Investigators later determined that only 62 vials of fentanyl, 38 vials of hydromorphone and 26 vials of morphine had been discarded for temperature issues. District 5 had 12 vials of fentanyl, 12 vials of hydromorphone and six vials of morphine in its inventory when investigators searched the station in August 2023, leaving 333 vials of fentanyl, 410 vials of hydromorphone and 219 vials of morphine unaccounted for.
In addition to the missing inventory, investigators have determined there were 11 instances, all of which occurred while Hoye was the paramedic, where the amount of narcotics administered was listed inconsistently between the patients’ medical records and narcotics usage forms, according to court documents. “She (Hoye) took advantage of the trust of her coworkers, took advantage of her employer, the taxpayers of the district, and the patients treated under her care,” District 5 Fire Commissioner Chair Sam Patrick wrote in a victim impact statement submitted to Lewis County Superior Court on Dec. 3.
District 5 has asked for restitution equal to the amount of missing narcotics, $5,385.55, as well as restitution to cover overtime District 5 staff worked while Hoye and two other paramedics were on administrative leave during the investigation; transport costs between April 1, 2023, and Aug. 15, 2023, that District 5 was unable to bill due to the report discrepancies caused by Hoye; the financial loss of relying on outside agencies for ALS transports between Aug.
15, 2023, and Nov. 30, 2023; and intangible costs associated with reinstating the ALS program and hiring a new paramedic. District 5 spent a total of $18,922.
72 on outside agency paramedics and another $7,684.09 in overtime to District 5 paramedics as a result of Hoye’s crime, according to a victim impact statement submitted by District 5 to Lewis County Superior Court on Dec. 3.
Deputy Prosecutor Joe Bassetti and Coker said Thursday that they would likely both agree to the missing narcotics amount being included in the restitution, but they would need to reach a compromise on how much of the other costs to include in the restitution amount. Coker confirmed Thursday that Hoye’s paramedic and EMS credentials in Washington state have been revoked and, while she still has active credentials in the state of Tennessee, those will likely be revoked soon. Hoye now lives out of state and has lost multiple jobs due to this case and the associated media coverage, according to Coker.
“This has obviously had a profound effect on her existence and life and will have a profound effect moving forward,” Coker said Thursday. “This is just an unfortunate circumstance and I understand that you’re going to be paying for this for a long time, and you already have been,” Lawler said to Hoye during the Thursday hearing. Hoye declined to comment.
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