Updated

Prosecutors say an Alabama pharmacy technician tampered with vials of medicine intended for cancer patients by removing morphine to feed his opioid addiction and then shipping off diluted, ineffective medicine.

The complaint against 30-year-old Johnathon Click, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in northern Alabama, is the latest repercussion of an opioid addiction crisis that's ravaged communities across the nation.

Click's lawyer, Clayton Tartt, says his client has accepted responsibility for his actions, and intends to plead guilty to tampering with consumer products as part of a plea agreement.

Click was the lead pharmacy technician at Birmingham-based ContinuumRx of Central Alabama from December 2014 to September 2016.

He faces up to 10 years in prison, but hopes to receive less than that by entering into the plea agreement.