Ex-morgue workers charged with stealing pills

Alleged theft of prescription drugs initiated by tip

Two former employees of the Macomb County Medical Examiner’s Office were charged Wednesday with several crimes relating to stolen prescription medication from the morgue.

Ex-morgue technicians Jocelyn Fetting, 32, and Jacob Kettlewell, 50, were arraigned in 41B District Court in Clinton Township and released on personal bonds.

The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office said the results marked the end of a months-long investigation that started with an anonymous tip about the pair taking the medications or narcotics from deceased persons as part of the investigation into deaths being investigated.

“An approximate total of 1,200 controlled substance pills were found to be stolen,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The case marked the second time in three years employees have been fired from the Macomb County morgue for wrongful behavior.

Authorities said the Sheriff’s Office received the tip back in April 2022 and had the Sheriff’s Enforcement Team conduct a probe into the allegations “utilizing various investigative techniques.”

Around the same time, a second report was made by the county Health Department about narcotics missing from the Medical Examiner’s Office property room.

The investigation included several interviews with the entire Medical Examiner’s Office staff of 19 and a full inventory of the property room. They found the entire staff had access to the evidence room, which officials said was highly improper.

County Executive Mark Hackel and Sheriff Anthony Wickersham held a news conference in December to announce Fetting and Ket

tlewell had been fired and were likely to face criminal charges.

One employee supposedly resold the drugs while the other kept them for personal use, they said.

Fetting, a Chesterfield Township resident, was charged with three felony counts of delivery of controlled substance as well as larceny in a building, also a felony.

Her attorney, Cy Abdo of Clinton Township, said his client has no prior criminal record and has been cooperative in the case. She is now working at a bakery, he said.

Kettlewell, who resides in Oxford, was charged with larceny less than $200 and using a controlled substance, both misdemeanors.

Jalal Dallo of Bloomfield Hills, who is representing Kettlewell, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Both defendants are scheduled to return to court on May 9 for a probable cause conference.