A former director of nursing pleaded guilty Thursday to federal agents in South Carolina for lying about providing them with false COVID-19 vaccination cards.
Tammy Hudson McDonald, who worked at a PruitHealth skilled nursing facility last summer, filled out cards for people she knew could not be vaccinated, according to an investigation by US Department of Health and Human Services, FBI and law enforcement officials. met. South Carolina.
When officers confronted McDonald last September after being told of fake certificates, he told federal agents, contrary to evidence, that he had never given anyone a counterfeit vaccination card, according to a Justice Department news release. according.
“The defendant posed a direct risk to the people of South Carolina by creating false vaccine documents for the use of others and exacerbated this misdemeanor by lying to federal agents,” U.S. Attorney Corey F. Ellis said in a statement. “As a registered nurse, she knew more and owed more to her community.”
His attorney, Jim Griffin, told The Associated Press that McDonald’s agreed to cooperate and accepted responsibility for his conduct. Griffin said he provided fake cards to relatives at Father’s Day gatherings and was not charged any fees.
The 53-year-old Colombian woman faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if she is sentenced on September 20.
