Court guidelines called for drug-abusing surgical tech Kristen Parker to be jailed for up to 24 years, but a panel of federal appeals court judges has upheld her 30-year prison sentence for shooting herself up with fentanyl-filled syringes and replacing them with used syringes that infected patients with hepatitis C.

The judges ruled that the sentence is acceptable based on Ms. Parker's background and addiction, the manner in which the crimes were committed, the harm caused by her crimes and the large number of victims. Ms. Parker admitted to replacing stolen pain medication syringes with ones she used to get high while working at 2 Colorado surgical facilities. "There is nothing whimsical about the facts of Parker's case," the judges wrote in their decision, "nor the sentence imposed by the district court."

Ms. Parker appealed the sentence handed down in U.S. District Court on Feb. 24, 2010, arguing it was "substantively unreasonable." While court guidelines called for Ms. Parker to be jailed for up to 293 months, Judge Robert E. Blackburn decided the 30-year sentence was warranted, describing Ms. Parker's actions as "incomprehensible and unconscionable."

"For a few moments of selfish personal pleasure and relief, she callously created a lifetime of inevitable and inexorable uncertainty and worry for so many," wrote Judge Blackburn in his decision. "The emotional trauma and distress are virtually ineffable."

Ms. Parker stole syringes while working at Rose Medical Center in Denver between October 2008 and April 2009 and at Audubon Surgery Center for nearly 2 months starting in May 2009. Court records say 17 patients have contracted a strain of hepatitis C genetically linked to Ms. Parker, with as many as 8 other patients having tested positive with no other risk factors for the illness.

Daniel Cook