An Albia resident facing multiple accusations of swapping out medications and taking them for herself at a nursing facility in Pella has changed her plea to guilty in Marion County District Court.

Thirty-seven-year-old Jessica Lynn Emerson entered a guilty plea for two counts of Prohibited Act – Prescription Drug Violation for Oxycodone. As part of the plea agreement, Emerson received five years of probation and $2,000 in fines. If she violates that probation, Emerson faces up to ten years of prison for each count. An official sentencing hearing will be held on April 16th.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrested Emerson in January 2025 on a warrant for five different charges, including three Class C felonies. According to the criminal complaints filed by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Emerson worked as a nurse at Hearthstone in Pella and allegedly swapped Zofran pills belonging to residents with Oxycodone and took deliveries of the drug for herself for a multiple-month period in 2024. She was charged with unlawfully obtaining a prescription drug and wanton neglect of a healthcare facility resident.