Zeisneiss

TIMES-REPUBLICAN

DES MOINES — Four Iowans, including a woman from Marshalltown, were recently sentenced in various district courts in Iowa as a result of investigations conducted by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals’ Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU).

Among those sentenced:

Janet Zeisneiss, 62, of Marshalltown, plead guilty to one count of prohibited acts and was sentenced to two-to-five years of probation in Marshall County District Court. The MFCU investigation revealed that while working as a nurse at the Hawkeye Care Center in Marshalltown in August of 2017, Zeisneiss signed out narcotics (Oxycodone, Hydrocodone) as if she was administering them to residents but kept them for herself. Initially charged with four counts of prohibited acts and one count of tampering with records, Zeisneiss ultimately plead guilty to a single count of prohibited acts.

The other three sentenced include:

• Cassandra Pierce, 32, of Ottumwa, plead guilty to one charge of prohibited acts and was sentenced to three years of probation. The MFCU investigation determined that while working as a nurse at Genesis Hospital in Davenport, Pierce would withdraw more narcotics from the hospital’s drug system than were needed for the patients; the extra narcotics were kept for herself.

• Denise Wagner, 51, of Kanawha, plead guilty to one charge of dependent adult abuse and was sentenced to two years of probation. The MFCU investigation determined that while working as a cook at the Kanawha Care Center, Wagner took a fentanyl patch off of a resident and kept it for herself.

• Heather Strawn, 41, of Prairie City, plead guilty to identify theft in separate cases filed in Polk, Appanoose and Jasper counties, and was sentenced to probation in all three counties. The MFCU investigation determined that Strawn, a licensed physician’s assistant, stole the identity of a doctor and a nurse practitioner for the purpose of writing prescriptions for herself and her boyfriend in multiple counties in Iowa.