As a follow-up to a case previously mentioned on this site:
A former patient care assistant of a Houston area hospital has been sentenced to prison for bank fraud and stealing the identities of patients, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today.
Nakeshia Brown, 30, of Houston, was sentenced to a total of 60 months in prison by United States District Judge David Hittner at a hearing today. Brown pleaded guilty Aug. 10, 2009, to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Thirty-six months of the 60 months sentence is for the bank fraud conviction, while the remaining 24 months is the mandatory sentence for an aggravated identity theft conviction which by law must be served consecutive to the bank fraud conviction sentence.
Brown worked for approximately five years as a patient care assistant at Memorial Hermann Hospital. At the time of her guilty plea, Brown admitted she used her employment to steal printouts of patient medical records, referred to as “face sheets,” which included the patient’s name, date of birth, Social Security number, address, employment information and other personal identifying information. Brown then used that information to apply for credit cards without the patients’ consent.
In February 2009, a patient was admitted to the hospital while Brown was present and performing her duties. The patient died at the hospital on Feb. 26 and Hospital records show Brown accessed the patient’s medical records without justification on March 3 and 4. On March 15, 2009, Brown used the patient’s identity to apply for a Target credit card. The application was received online from an internet protocol address associated with Brown and Brown’s home address was listed in the account application. When confronted by investigators, Brown admitted she had used the patients information to apply for the credit card.
Immediately the pronouncement of the sentence, Judge Hittner revoked Brown’s bond and immediately remanded her into the custody of the United States Marshals Service to begin serving her sentence pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay Hileman.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office