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Onawa Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison for Drug Theft, Fraud, and Firearm Offense
SIOUX CITY, IA – A former nurse from Onawa, Iowa, has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a series of crimes involving drug theft, firearm possession, burglary, and bank fraud.
On July 16, 2025, 47-year-old Sarah Haptonstall of Onawa was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison. She had previously pleaded guilty on February 24 to one count each of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, possession of a firearm by a felon, and bank fraud.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Haptonstall admitted that in March 2023 she repeatedly burglarized the home of an elderly Onawa couple in order to steal prescription pain medication. She had been delivering narcotics to their residence before returning to steal them. When law enforcement arrested her on March 10, 2023, they found a 9mm Luger pistol in her vehicle. At the time, Haptonstall was both a convicted felon and a drug user, making her possession of the firearm illegal. Investigators later learned she had purchased two pistols in 2020 while falsely claiming she was not addicted to drugs.
In addition to burglarizing homes, Haptonstall also entered multiple apartments in Onawa in early 2023 to steal residents’ pain medication. Her crimes extended to her workplace as well. While working as a licensed nurse between April and October 2022, she stole hydrocodone pills from four elderly patients at nursing homes in Onawa and Sergeant Bluff. In one heartbreaking case, a resident suffering severe pain during her final days was given Tylenol instead of her prescribed narcotics because Haptonstall had replaced the pills and falsified her medical record. Another victim was in hospice care when her medications were taken.
Haptonstall, who had held a nursing license since 2006, eventually surrendered her license after being investigated.
In a separate crime, Haptonstall committed bank fraud against a small, family-owned business in Onawa where she worked as a bookkeeper. She embezzled more than $8,000 by creating fake checks made out to herself and forging signatures. She concealed the fraud by entering false information into the business’s accounting system.
Haptonstall was sentenced at the federal courthouse in Sioux City. In addition to her 42-month prison term, she was ordered to pay more than $8,000 in restitution to her former employer and $5,000 in court-appointed attorney fees. She will also serve a three-year term of supervised release following her incarceration. There is no possibility of parole in the federal system.
