A former Columbus nurse Monday was sentenced for felony abuse of a vulnerable person.
Sherrill Culpepper, 53, appeared before Lowndes County Circuit Court Judge Lee S. Coleman and admitted, while working as a licensed practical nurse, she willfully inflicted physical pain or injury upon a vulnerable person left in her care by heating a flat iron and putting it in contact with the vulnerable person’s skin.
Coleman sentenced Culpepper to serve 10 years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections and to five years of post-release supervision. Culpepper also was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine.
“This case should not serve as a reflection of the majority of our caregivers, but it should serve as a reminder that there are consequences for anyone acting outside the law,” said Attorney General Jim Hood.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Pat McNamara of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General’s Office.
Culpepper voluntarily turned herself in after learning she was wanted by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in 2010 and was released on a $5,000 bond.
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