Ex-Macomb County morgue staff charged for stealing a whole lot of prescription drugs – Macomb Every day

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 arranged in 41B District Court in Clinton Township and released on personal bonds. One is accused of reselling the pills, while the other is charged with personal use.

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.

The case also seems to have sparked another salvo in the ongoing dispute between County Executive Mark Hackel and Prosecutor Peter Lucido.

Hackel and Sheriff Anthony Wickersham held a news conference in December to announce Fetting and Kettlewell had been fired and were likely to face criminal charges.

Lucido on Wednesday took issue with Hackel’s comments to the media.

“The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office does not investigate and does not try cases in the media. Now that the investigation is complete, the appropriate charges have been brought against the two former medical examiner’s employees,” Lucido said in a statement.

In response, Hackel told The Macomb Daily that he felt it was proper to disclose news of the employee terminations in the interest of transparency.

“I will not be directed on how to do my job based on the prosecutor’s comments,” the county executive said. “I don’t need him telling me how do my job.”

Fetting, a Chesterfield Township resident, was charged with delivery of controlled substance, delivery of suboxone, and delivery of Adderall, all seven-year felonies. She is also charged with larceny of a building, a four-year 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. Prosecutors said he “took an occasional pill from the medical examiner’s office and consumed it.”

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.

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