San Jose Medical Group Identity Thief Sentenced
A few years back, 187,000 patient records were stolen from the San Jose Medical Group. The identity thief has been arrested and was just sentenced to jail.
San Jose Medical Group
187,000 patient records? How much do you somebody would pay for that information? Probably a lot, huh? Well, the penalty for stealing the information is surprisingly small.
2 years. Yes. 2 years.
Joseph Nathaniel Harris, 44, pleaded guilty in May to one count of health care-related theft after he stole computer equipment from his former employer, including a DVD that contained patients' names, Social Security numbers, medical diagnoses and other information. He was sentenced to a whopping 21 months in jail, but at least was ordered to repay $145,000 in restitution.
The old cliché is crime does not pay. The ugly truth, however, seems to be that it does. Mr. Harris is going to spend less than 2 years in jail when you consider time served and pay a fine that surely pales in comparison to what the information he stole probably made him. As long as officials fail to serious punish identity thieves, the crime will continue to become more common. What a shame.