Emergency Room Clerk Pleads Guilty to Theft of Patient's Identity

NORFOLK, Va. – An emergency room clerk at a local hospital yesterday pleaded guilty to stealing patient data that was used to take out $134,000 in car loans from Navy FCU.
 
The FBI said about $134,000 in loan checks were issued and the suspects are accused of obtaining $61,000 in cash from some of the checks before they were arrested.
 
The clerk, identified as Nichole Easton, 23, of Virginia Beach, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of aggravated identity theft. She worked as a registrar in the Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center’s emergency room and admitted in court that she stole patient addresses and other personal information that was used in the scheme.
 
Hospital records show she accessed patient records frequently between October 2007 and April.
 
Credit union officials became suspicious of the transactions and alerted police in March. The suspects were arrested on state charges before two loans checks, for $48,000 and $25,000, could be cashed.
 
At least three other suspects have been charged in the scheme.