Former Coroner Sentenced for Taking Prescription Drugs From Public Office
Posted on January 8, 2010Stories of addiction, death, betrayal and the fall of a public figure are the perfect fodder for the media and the public to seek their teeth into for a juicy story. In a recent report in the Trib, Natrona County’s former chief deputy coroner was sentenced to 10 years of probation for the possession of prescription drugs he stole from the coroner’s office.
Gary Hazen, 53, pleaded guilty to criminal possession and shared this with the court, "I apologize for the crimes I committed. And I would really appreciate any opportunity your honor could give me to continue my rehabilitation and to help others."
Original charges in this case included 10 felonies and eight counts of drug possession. Hazen faced the possibility of 51 years in prison and instead reached a plea agreement that resulted in the dismissal of eight of the charges.
This case first surfaced in 2007 when investigators turned their attention to Hazen after more than 50 people expressed suspicions about his interest in prescription drugs. Hazen was found to have taken hydrocodone and methadone – for which he did not possess prescriptions.
"It creeps up on you, and you don’t realize it," Hazen said. "You just don’t know it. It plays games with you. It starts with your mind. You think things differently, you start rationalizing things differently."
The toll his crimes have taken on Hazen are significant as his activities of the last 30 years were under public scrutiny. He also lost his profession and his standing in the community. For the public – they lost trust.
Hazen has a long history of serving the public in his community. From 1978 to 1998 he served as a Casper policeman. From there he spent five years as a campus supervisor for the Natrona County School District before joining the coroner’s office full time.
