Sentencing in Houston ID Theft Case
Former hospital worker gets 60 months A former patient care assistant at a Houston hospital was sentenced to 60 months in prison on February 3 after pleading guilty to bank fraud and stealing the identities of patients.Nakeshia Brown of Houston worked for about five years at Memorial Hermann Hospital. At the time of her guilty plea, she admitted she used her employment to steal printouts of patient medical record "face sheets," which included the patient's name, date of birth, Social Security number, address, employment information and other personal identifying information, according to U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson. She then used that information to apply for credit cards.
Details of sentence
Brown was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Hittner. Thirty-six months of her sentence is for bank fraud, while 24 months is the mandatory sentence for aggravated identity theft, which, by law, must be served consecutive to the bank fraud sentence.
The conviction stems from a case involving a patient who died Feb. 26, 2009.
Brown was charged with using the patient's identity to apply for a Target credit card on March 15, 2009. The application was received online from an Internet protocol address associated with Brown, and Brown's home address was listed in the account application, Johnson said.
When confronted by investigators, Brown admitted she had used the patient's information to apply for the credit card, according to the U.S. attorney.
