Ruben Rodriguez of South Florida allegedly conspired to steal personally identifiable information of patients of Jackson Memorial Hospital (JMH) and sell that information to at least one practicing lawyer in South Florida. Rodriguez appeared in federal court July 30th, and was released on $200,000 bond.
The six count indictment states that Rodriguez solicited Rebecca Garcia, and ultrasound technician for the hospital, to access, obtain, and transfer the information for him in exchange for monthly payments of an undisclosed amount. Rodriguez would then pass the information on to the lawyer, whose name was not mentioned in the press release, to be used to illegally solicit JMH patients, hoping to represent them in legal proceedings. The lawyer would pay Rodriguez to provide this information in amounts dictated in part by lawsuits and settlements won from clients found through the patient records.
Rodriguez faces up to 5 years in prison for conspiracy and fraud in connection to computers, 10 years for wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information, and a mandatory 2 year consecutive imprisonment for aggravated identity theft offenses. Garcia, who has already plead guilty, faces a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
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