Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Upstate assisted living home employee pleads guilty to drug charge

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announces that Aaliyah H. Patton, 28, of Boiling Springs, SC, pleaded guilty Monday in Spartanburg County General Sessions Court to one count of Unlawful Possession of a schedule IV-controlled substance. Patton was sentenced to 6 months in prison, suspended to 3 years of probation.

While working as a medical technician at Lakewood Assisted Living in Boiling Springs, Patton unlawfully possessed a controlled substance, specifically Lorazepam, that had been prescribed to a resident at the facility. Investigators found no evidence suggesting that residents were denied prescribed medications because of Patton’s actions. Lakewood Assisting Living cooperated fully with investigators. All residents of assisted living facilities are classified as vulnerable adults under South Carolina State law.

This case was investigated by the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office and DHEC’s Bureau of Drug Control with assistance from the South Carolina Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (SCMFCU). The case was prosecuted by the SCMFCU.

The South Carolina MFCU receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,318,568 for the 2023 Federal fiscal year. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $772,852 for FY 2023, is funded by South Carolina.