BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A Shelby County woman is going to prison for more than three years after pleading guilty to stealing personal information on more than 4,000 patients at a Birmingham hospital.
A judge on Wednesday sentenced 26-year-old Chelsea Catherine Stewart of Alabaster. She pleaded guilty to taking the information under a federal health privacy law, attempted bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Authorities say Stewart stole patients' information from Trinity Medical Center while an associate of hers was a patient there. The missing records included names, birthdates and Social Security numbers.
Police found hundreds of pages of documents containing the information during a search last April, and Stewart pleaded guilty in November. Authorities say she tried to use a stolen credit card convenience check to obtain $2,200.
(Associated Press)