Court documents show an El Paso County deputy coroner has confessed to stealing prescription drugs from the homes of dead people.

Leon Moynier, 32, was arrested last week.

He told police he had been stealing the drugs then selling them to his friends.

Moynier had worked for the coroner's office for two years. He was fired after his arrest and jailed under $50,000 bail.

He faces charges of distributing prescription drugs. If convicted, he could be sentenced to four to 12 years in prison and fined $3,000 to $750,000.

Arapahoe County Coroner Dr. Michael Dobersen, president of the Colorado Coroners Association, said he has never heard of a similar case.

"It doesn't surprise me, because the potential is there," he said.

Deputy coroners' jobs include removing bodies from homes, hospitals and other locations and collecting prescriptions of those who died.

Coroners use the medicine to make sure the victim was taking the prescribed dosage and didn't die because of an overdose.