Concord, NH – Attorney General John M. Formella announces that Thomas John Ball Poirier (age 41) of Tilton, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty in the Merrimack County Superior Court today to charges of First Degree Assault, Second Degree Assault, and Obtaining a Controlled Drug by Deceit.

Poirier was formerly employed at Spaulding Academy and Family Services in Northfield, New Hampshire. Between July 3, 2020 and December 22, 2020, he stole medications that had been prescribed to Spaulding's residents, some of whom were children under the age of 13.

Poirier then replaced the stolen medication with unknown substances that he colored with marker pens to make the unknown substances appear to be the children's medications. Two of the children experienced severe behavioral changes as a reaction to having their prescriptions tampered with.

First Degree Assault is a class A felony that carries a maximum term of 7½ to 15 years in the New Hampshire State Prison. Second Degree Assault and Obtaining a Controlled Drug by Deceit are class B felonies that each carry a maximum penalty of 3½ to 7 years in the New Hampshire State Prison. When committed against a person under 13 years of age, a conviction on any felony assault may subject the offender to an extended term of imprisonment of 10 to 30 years in the New Hampshire State Prison.

Poirier will be sentenced in the Merrimack County Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, January 13, 2023.

Attorney Andrew T. Yourell and Senior Assistant Attorney General Thomas T. Worboys, of the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, prosecuted this case.

Under New Hampshire law, the Attorney General is responsible for the prosecution of health care facility employees charged with willful abuse, mistreatment or neglect of a patient. Health care facility employees suspected of abusing their patients should be reported to the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit [(603) 271-1246], your local police department, or the Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services [(800) 949-0470].