Lynwood woman gets 4 years for identity fraud

A south suburban woman was sentenced to more than four years in prison for stealing personal information from hospital patients in an identity fraud scheme.

Angela Young, 45, worked at a medical facility in Illinois between June 2007 and October 2009, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. She was authorized to have access to patients’ individually identifiable health information and other personal details, including names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, health insurance cards, credit cards, checking accounts and billing statements.

Young, who lives in Lynwood, took private details of patients and their representatives and gave that information to a co-defendant, who used the details to open credit card accounts in the victims’ names, prosecutors said. The patients’ information was protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen sentenced Young to 51 months in prison for one count of conspiracy to commit identity fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of unlawful use of Social Security numbers and one count of disclosing HIPAA information, prosecutors said.

In addition to the prison time, Young was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $64,791.74 in restitution, prosecutors said.