EBR court employee accused of falsifying hundreds of drug tests arrested

BATON ROUGE - An East Baton Rouge drug court employee who allegedly falsified hundreds of drug tests over the course of four years in exchange for cash was arrested Friday.

According to the sheriff's office, Nina Burage is accused of taking money in exchange for warning subjects of their impending drug tests or flat-out voiding the tests entirely. A warrant filed over the weekend says Burage allegedly voided or failed to send as many as 600 tests from 2014 to 2018.

Burage worked at the Drug Court Treatment Center on Wooddale Boulevard, a 19th JDC court administrator said. Specimens collected there were sent to an out-of-state lab for analysis. That operation is separate from the Drug Lab, which is at the courthouse and does on-the-spot testing.

According to Burage's arrest warrant, an alleged participant in the scheme told investigators that he would often ask when he could expect his next drug test. He'd then pay her cash after she gave him that information, the documents said. He also claimed Burage would manipulate the system so he would have time to get drugs out of his system.

That person further explained he paid Burage between $100-400 each week in exchange for her help.

Deputies signed a warrant for Burage's arrest after they found evidence to support the claims. She was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison late Friday morning.

WBRZ reached out to Burage for comment Tuesday after the allegations first surfaced. She said she no longer works for the court system and denied any wrongdoing.