By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – A local opioid case that drew national attention has resulted in a guilty plea and possible prison time for a nurse who took painkilling fentanyl patches from patients’ bodies at two Twin-Cities nursing homes.

James Rellihan pleaded guilty to residential burglary, and faces up to 15 years in prison. He’s scheduled to be sentenced July 25th by Judge Casey Costigan.

Authorities say Rellihan worked as a nurse at Bloomington Rehabilitation and Health Care Center on South Main Street in Bloomington. He went there on a day off and took three fentanyl patches from a terminally ill patient. Two days later, Rellihan went to Heritage Manor on Adelaide Street in Normal, where he also used to work, and removed a a fentanyl patch from a dementia patient.

The thefts happened in February.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]