Source Of Medical Patient Stolen Identities Pleads Guilty

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Ric. L. Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, announce that Eltonya Wiley, 40, of Lady Lake, pled guilty for her participation in a wide-ranging identity theft scheme. Wiley was the last of six defendants to plead guilty in the case. As part of her guilty plea, Wiley admitted that she made unauthorized use of medical patients’ Social Security numbers in connection with ongoing identity theft. The government alleged, and Wiley agreed that at least 92 patients of Villages Endocopy near The Villages in Central Florida had their identities stolen by virtue of Wiley’s conduct while she was an employee at that medical facility.

Specifically, Wiley pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 1349 (Count 1), three counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 1343 (Counts 4, 6, and 12), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 1028A (Count 35). At sentencing, she faces a maximum of twenty years in prison for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud; and, a mandatory term of two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge, to run consecutively to any other sentence.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 6, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra in West Palm Beach.

The scheme involved, in part, stealing the identities of patients at a medical facility in central Florida. Those identities were then used to file fraudulent federal income tax returns in the patients’ names seeking fraudulent refunds, and obtaining fraudulent credit cards which were then used to make fraudulent purchases.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Carlton.

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.