Three current and former nursing home employees pleaded not guilty Friday in Kern County Superior Court to charges that they forcibly drugged elderly residents for staff convenience, leading to some of the residents' deaths.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the California Attorney General's office, former director of nursing Gwen Hughes, former pharmacist Debbi Hayes and current staff physician Dr. Hoshang Pormir forcibly gave psychotropic drugs to 22 residents at Kern Valley Hospital District's nursing facility in Lake Isabella.

A two-year investigation concluded that Hughes, starting in 2006, allegedly ordered staff to give high doses of the drugs to Alzheimer's and other dementia patients to make them more tranquil and easier to control. Hughes allegedly ordered the medications be given to patients who argued with her, made noise or were otherwise disruptive.

Medical complications, including lethargy and the inability to eat or drink properly, resulted from the forced medications, and three of the facility's residents may have died as a result, according to the AG's complaint.

Attorney Daniel Rodriguez is representing the family of one of the residents who died, 91-year-old Fannie May Brinkley, in a civil suit against KVHD. State investigators concluded Brinkley died after being given a drug called Depakote.

Rodriguez said Brinkley's daughter didn't find out about the druggings until a chance encounter with a KVHD nurse nearly a year after Brinkley's death.

"And (the nurse) says, 'You know. You might want to look into what happened to your mom,'" Rodriguez said.

All three defendants have been booked into Kern County Jail. Hughes and Hayes were each charged with elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. Pormir was charged with elder abuse.