Facing criminal charges, former nursing home worker surrenders his license

A nurse who landed a job in an Iowa care facility last fall after Nebraska officials labeled him a “significant risk” to the public has agreed to voluntarily surrender his Iowa license.

The nurse, Raymond DeLeon of Glenwood, is currently facing a felony charge of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. Prosecutors allege that on Nov. 12, 2025, he left the Garden View Care Center in Shenandoah when he was the only licensed nurse on duty.

DeLeon has pleaded not guilty to the charge and a trial is scheduled for Aug. 25, 2026.

DeLeon’s licensing issues stem from action taken by Nebraska regulators last year prior to his employment in Iowa.

Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services records indicate DeLeon, a 66-year-old licensed practical nurse, was working at Douglas County Health Center, a 254-bed nursing home in Omaha, in February 2024 when the facility received what the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services calls “photographic evidence of DeLeon using illicit controlled substances.”

After DeLeon refused the facility’s request that he submit to drug testing, he was allegedly fired for unlawful use of a controlled substance in the workplace or reporting for work while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, incompetence in performing his assigned nursing duties, and engaging in activities prejudicial to his employer’s reputation.

Declaring that DeLeon to posed a “significant risk to public safety,” the department revoked his privileges to work as a nurse in Nebraska on Aug. 2, 2025.

With his Iowa license unaffected by that decision, DeLeon continued to work as a nurse in Iowa and in September 2025, was hired at the Garden View Care Center, a state-licensed nursing home in Fremont County.

According to state inspectors, the administrator at Garden View later explained that when she hired DeLeon last year, she was aware of some sort of adverse action against his license in Nebraska and had asked DeLeon about that. Inspectors allege the administrator told them DeLeon informed her that his girlfriend had taken a photo of him smoking marijuana and sent it to his employer.

The administrator allegedly told the inspectors that since she had started work at the home in July 2025, the facility had not been checking the references of job applicants and new hires.

A registered nurse at Garden View allegedly told the inspectors DeLeon would routinely leave the building during his overnight shift, would go out to his car, and would then return “hyped up” to complete his shift. The registered nurse allegedly added that she wouldn’t give DeLeon the keys to the home’s narcotics cabinet because she didn’t trust him — a concern she said she had relayed to the home’s management.

State records indicate that around 1 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2025, while working the overnight shift at Garden View, DeLeon went out to his vehicle to smoke and then drove away, before his shift had ended, to purchase gasoline for his vehicle.

According to police, DeLeon was pulled over about 1:15 a.m. by a Fremont County deputy, allegedly after driving on Highway 59 with no lights on. The deputy reported following DeLeon into the parking lot at Garden View, and then arresting DeLeon after finding a glass methamphetamine pipe, with residue, in the vehicle’s glove compartment.

DeLeon was subsequently convicted of possession of methamphetamine and at sentencing received a deferred judgment that will result in his conviction being wiped from his record after the successful completion of a year’s probation. A charge of possession of drug paraphernalia was dismissed.

At some point, the Iowa Board of Nursing filed disciplinary charges against DeLeon, accusing him of being subject to disciplinary action in another state, being involved in the unauthorized possession or use of a controlled substance, excessive use of drugs and/or alcohol, engaging in behavior that is contradictory to professional decorum, and leaving a nursing assignment without properly ensuring the safety and welfare of patients.

Board records give conflicting information as to when those charges were filed. The board’s published Statement of Charges is dated Sept. 8, 2025, but references board action three months later in December 2025. Recently, the board agreed to accept DeLeon’s voluntary surrender of his Iowa license, and in that agreement the board indicated the disciplinary charges against DeLeon were filed in March 2026.

Garden View is currently one of two Iowa nursing homes designated a “special-focus facility” by the federal government. Such facilities are considered to be among the worst nursing homes in the nation due to serious and recurring deficiencies in resident care.

Garden View has been designated a special-focus facility for 12 months. It currently has no quality rating on the federal government’s Nursing Home Compare website due to what the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services calls a “history of serious quality issues.”

The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach DeLeon or his attorney for comment.