A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed last week charging a Fluvanna County pharmacist with diverting liquid hydromorphone for his own use and replacing it with water.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
According to the indictment, Joshua Joseph Walden, 52, who previously worked at Jefferson Pharmacy in Palmyra, Virginia, is charged with one count of tampering with consumer products and one count of attempt to tamper with a consumer product, two counts of theft of pre-retail medical products, and one count of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud.
Walden worked as a pharmacist from on or before July 2023 until he resigned in February 2025, according to court records. Throughout the course of his employment, Walden stole liquid opioids and amphetamines and further tampered with prescription medications with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Virginia State Police are investigating the case.
First Assistant United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci for the Western District of Virginia made the announcement.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher B. Browne is prosecuting the case.
