BECKLEY, W.Va. — A Pike County travel nurse has pleaded guilty to a scheme to use patient health information to obtain drugs.

Jacqueline Brewster, 54, of Belfry, pleaded guilty to federal charges of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and wrongful disclosure of patient health information. The charges stem from Brewster’s employment at Raleigh General Hospital, in Beckley, W.Va.

In her plea agreement, she admitted to using patient information to access vials of hydromorphone from an automated prescription dispensing machine. She would siphon off a portion of the drug from the vial for her own use, then add another substance to the vial to make it appear full and use adhesive to reattach its cap to make it appear unopened. She would then return the adulterated vial to the machine and cancel the prescription.

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors have agreed to dismiss a third charge of attempting to tamper with a consumer product.

Brewster entered her plea in front of a federal magistrate, but it must still be approved by a district judge. Once that happens, she will face up to 14 years in prison when she is sentenced at a later date.