Press Release
PALMETTO GENERAL HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE AND ACCOMPLICE INDICTED FOR STEALING PATIENT RECORDS AS PART OF FRAUD SCHEME
May 26, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Robert L. Parker, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department, announced today's Indictment charging defendants Jacquettia L. Brown, 29, and Tear Renee Barbary, 25, both residents of Miami-Dade County, with offenses relating to the theft of patient profile records from Palmetto General Hospital to further a fraud scheme.
The seven-count Indictment charges Brown and Barbary with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(b)(2), and criminal violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Title 42, United States Code, Sections 1320d-6(a)(2), (a)(3), and (b)(3). In addition, Brown is charged with aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).
According to the Indictment, Brown, a medical records employee of Palmetto General Hospital, took records containing personal profile information of Palmetto General Hospital patients. Defendant Brown and Barbary then used the stolen personal information to further a credit card fraud conspiracy. The patient profile records that Brown stole included personal identifying information, such as patients' names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, addresses, driver's license numbers, and next of kin contacts. Brown used the stolen identifying information to obtain patients' credit card account numbers. She gave patient profile records and credit card account numbers to Barbary, who used the information to make unauthorized credit card purchases. When law enforcement officials disrupted the scheme, Brown was in possession of 41 patient profile records and Barbary was in possession of six patient profile records.
The confidentiality of patient information is strictly protected by the HIPAA. HIPAA precludes the unauthorized release of information that is created or received by a health care provider and relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental condition of an individual, the provision of health care to the individual, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual, and that either identifies the individual or includes information that could be used to identify the individual. This HIPAA prosecution is the second recent prosecution of its kind in the Southern District of Florida.
If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum of five (5) years' imprisonment on Count 1, and a statutory maximum of ten (10) years' imprisonment as to each of Counts 2, 3, and 7. As to Counts 4-6, Brown faces a two (2) year mandatory prison sentence per count.
Mr. Acosta commended the efforts of agents and investigators from the Identity Theft and Economic Crimes Task Force, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Miami Dade Police Department for their work on this case. Acosta also thanked Palmetto General Hospital for its continued cooperation in the investigation of this matter. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Hunter.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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