United States of America v. Eric Leo Newsom

Cedar Rapids, Iowan criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with tampered with an assisted living resident’s prescription pain medication.

By Kent Morlan

Eric Leo Newsom, age 34, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, diverted narcotics from his current and former patients. One of his former patients was elderly, had cancer, required medication to control pain, and lived in a Cedar Rapids assisted living facility. On March 19, 2025, the former patient began receiving palliative hospice care. On March 24, 2025, Newsom picked up the former patient’s hydrocodone tablets from an area pharmacy and replaced the former patient’s hydrocodone tablets with zinc tablets. Before putting the zinc tablets into the hydrocodone container, Newsom added score marks to the zinc tablets to make them appear similar to hydrocodone tablets. As a result, from March 24, 2025, until March 26, 2025, the former patient did not have her narcotic pain medication. The former patient died on March 28, 2025.

Newsom also admitted burglarizing the apartment of another resident of an assisted living facility while seeking narcotics. Newsom admitted to stealing narcotics from two sisters who lived in different apartments at the same assisted living facility in Cedar Rapids while the sisters were in the facility’s gym for therapy.

The Defendant elected to plead guilty.