Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Henry Gutierrez, Special Agent in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service, announced yesterday’s sentencing of Jimmy Lee Theodore, 27, of North Miami, following his plea of guilty to charges of wire fraud, unauthorized use of an access device (debit card), and aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge Donald C. Middlebrooks sentenced Theodore to 175 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The Court also ordered $631,000 in restitution.
According to statements made and documents filed during his guilty plea on April 6, 2011, Theodore and Albert Andrulonis used co-defendant Mildred Alexis to recruit co-defendant Natasha Orr, an emergency room employee at Holy Cross Hospital, to steal patients’ personal information from emergency room records. Alexis also recruited co-defendant Raushanah Bowleg, who worked for a doctor in Aventura, to steal similar patient information from her employer. Alexis then sold the stolen patient information obtained from Orr and Bowleg to Andrulonis. Alexis shared a portion of proceeds from the sale of the stolen information with Orr and Bowleg. Andrulonis and Theodore used the stolen patient information to gain on-line access to existing accounts and telephone banking services at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and to make cash withdrawals and purchase money orders through ATM machines.
At sentencing, the court held Theodore responsible for a $419,000 loss incurred by Holy Cross Hospital due to the identity theft and a $212,000 loss incurred by J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. The court also found that Theodore was the manager of the operation, that the fraud used sophisticated means, and affected at least 250 victims.
Co-defendants Andrulonis, Orr, Alexis, and Bowleg and have all either pled guilty or are awaiting sentence. On June 7, 2011, Andrulonis, 27, of Davie, was sentenced to 132 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release and the payment of $300,000 in restitution. On April 15, 2011, Orr was sentenced to 24 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. On May 25, 2011, Alexis was sentenced to 40 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. On May 27, 2011, Bowleg, 30 of Miami, pled guilty to wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information. Sentencing is scheduled for August 15, 2011.
Source: United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
[Previous coverage on PHIPprivacy.net here. ]
According to the complaint and the stipulation of facts filed, the unnamed doctor whose patient files were also stolen was Dr. Elliot Stein of Aventura. Investigators found typed lists with his patients’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and specific health information.