Clifton, Tx (FOX 44) – A former nurse who was charged with diverting drugs from a dying patient has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Ashley Kay Bidwell, of Whitney, was a registered nurse employed by the Clifton Lutheran Sunset Home. She was arrested in 2022.

In April 2022, Clifton Police were notified that a nurse at the home took medication from a patient under hospice care. She was accused of stealing drugs from a patient at the Sunset Home and replacing the drugs with a fruit juice.

Police say this juice was then given to the patient by nursing staff, who thought they were giving him the correct medication. Bidwell was terminated by the Sunset Home immediately after they found out about the accusations.

She was later indicted on one count of Injury to the Elderly, and on 21 counts of Diversion of a Controlled Substance. She has now entered a guilty plea, and has been sentenced to four years in prison for the Injury to the Elderly charge, and two years probation for the drug diversion charge.

She has also surrendered her nursing license.