Joseph E. Bonnett

The husband of a nurse charged with stealing painkillers from Chicora Medical Center was sentenced to county prison in Butler County Court on Thursday.

Joseph E. Bonnett, 39, of Rimersburg, Clarion County, was sentenced to 9 to 23 months in Butler County Prison by Judge William Shaffer.

He will also be subject to 30 months of county probation following his parole, and he has to complete the county drug and alcohol program. Shaffer also ordered him to pay court costs and $2,485 in restitution and was made work release and community service eligible.

Bonnett previously pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

He was initially charged with hundreds of counts of drug and theft charges after his wife, Pamela S. Bonnett, 46, a former nurse at the facility, was arrested for stealing drugs from the location for about a year in 2013.

During that time, she stole thousands of pills, police allege in charging documents. She was caught Feb. 12, 2013, when another nurse saw her take medication from a cart, investigators said.

For more about this case, read Friday's Butler Eagle.