UPDATE | A Riverside woman was sentenced to five years in federal prison today for stealing identity information of elderly patients from a Long Beach nursing home.
U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real also ordered Bridgette Jackson, 45, to serve three years of supervised release, once she has served her time in prison.
A restitution hearing date has yet to be set for Jackson, who was convicted by a Los Angeles federal jury in January of possessing and conspiring to possess more than 15 identities, in addition to aggravated identity theft.
One of Jackson’s victims included a 28-year-old woman with a traumatic brain injury, who has lived in a 24-hour nursing facility since the age of 16.
Patient files were provided to Jackson by an employee at the now-closed Hillcrest Care Center, according to testimony. Jackson then filed false tax returns for others under the names of the patients, using that information, so they could keep the refunds for themselves.
Last year, Jackson pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit credit card fraud in Riverside federal court. She faces an unrelated sentence of up to five years incarceration when she is sentenced on March 28.
City News Service contributed to this report.
PREVIOUSLY: Riverside Woman Found Guilty of Defrauding Over 50 Long Beach Nursing Home Residents
On 01/21/16 at 1:31PM | A Riverside woman faces up to 17 years in prison after she was convicted Wednesday on federal identity theft charges for possessing the identities of more than 50 patients of a Long Beach residential medical facility, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
Bridgette Jackson, 45, was convicted in United States District Court of conspiring to possess more than 15 identities, possessing more than 15 identities, and aggravated identity theft, officials stated.
Jackson obtained the personal information from her aunt who was an employee at the facility, formerly known as the Hillcrest Care Center, and had access to all of the patient files, a release stated. She approached her aunt and asked for the patient’s personal information, the aunt said during testimony at the trial.
“Jackson’s aunt copied or wrote down personal identifying information and provided it to Jackson on three separate occasions,” according to the release. “Jackson then used that information to help others file false tax returns in the names of the patients and keep the refunds for themselves.”
During the execution of a search warrant at Jackson’s home, law enforcement seized about 56 Hillcrest medical records, along with nearly 70 other identity profiles, including social security numbers and dates of birth of individuals other than Jackson, officials stated.
More than 50 prepaid debit cards in names of people other than Jackson were also seized.
“This identity theft scheme targeted vulnerable victims,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “The victims included elderly patients at a convalescent home and a 28-year-old woman with a traumatic brain injury who has lived in a 24-hour nursing facility since she was 16.”
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 7. Jackson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 17 years, according to officials.
Authorities said Jackson pled guilty last year to conspiring to commit credit card fraud in a District Court in Riverside. She will face up to five years in prison in that unrelated case when she is sentenced on March 28.
The Los Angeles case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, and the Riverside case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.