I-Team 8 Exclusive: Second Indiana woman accused of being imposter nurse
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — For the second time this year, federal prosecutors have charged an Indiana woman with posing as a nurse without a proper license.
Court records show that Ashley N. Johnson was arrested in May and charged with aggravated identity theft and false statements related to a health care matter.
Johnson is accused of using the nursing license numbers of two other women – both named Ashley Johnson – to apply for jobs at separate health care facilities in and around Indianapolis.
Federal prosecutors allege that Johnson applied for and gained employment at the Clearvista Lake Health Campus nursing home in April using the license number of another Ashley N. Johnson.
Shortly after the facility hired Johnson, she gave the wrong medication to a patient, court records state.
After that incident, the employer, Clearvista Lake, caught the error, according to court records.
The facility provided a statement to I-Team 8 that read in part:
Prior to her start date, we received completed background check form (which includes confirmation of active licensure) which showed all items clear, and no concerns.
The morning of April 25, we received an updated report from our background vendor stating Ms. Johnson was not a registered nurse as she had stated on her application. Ms. Johnson was not at the campus or scheduled to work on April 25.
Once we were notified of this licensure discrepancy, we completed an online complaint with the Indiana Attorney General’s office. Ms. Johnson was suspended and later terminated once it was confirmed she had falsified licensure information.
We appreciate the support from local law enforcement as we worked to resolve this issue. We are grateful to our leadership team and staff for their quick actions once this discrepancy was discovered.
I-Team 8 called a number listed in the federal courts for Ashley N. Johnson, the woman who answered the phone identified herself as “Ashley” but denied involvement.
“I was questioned about it, but it’s not true,” the woman said, also denying that she has agreed to plead guilty to charges.
Online court records show that Ashley N. Johnson has agreed, in fact, to plead guilty.
Court records show the Ashley N. Johnson is not a registered nurse and did not graduate nursing school.Prosecutor reacts
“It’s a serious problem and hopefully the prosecution of cases like this addresses it,” U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler told I-Team 8 during an interview Tuesday.
Minkler said cases like this scare him – it marks the second time in six months that his office has filed federal charges against an Indiana resident accused of being an imposter nurse.
Earlier this year, Holly Whyde was charged with aggravated identity theft and making false statements related to health care matters after allegedly stealing the identity of a nurse from northern Indiana named Holly Aumick.
An I-Team 8 investigation last month exposed how easily these cases can occur.
The reason: Indiana’s online license renewal system can be easily manipulated, according to experts and an analysis of other states conducted by I-Team 8.
While state law requires that nurses renew their licenses every other year, most other states require the nurses to have a unique username and password when using the online renewal system.
Indiana relies on a nurses licensing number (which is public record) along with the last four of their social security number, which I-Team 8 found can easily be discovered with some digging through public records.
“I was not aware of this happening prior to this year, I can’t remember if ever happening. So the fact that it’s happened twice in such a short time period is a concern to me and something we are going to look into.”
Minkler said the filing of two federal cases within a six-month period is in part because investigators with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are “onto the scheme.”The “other” Ashley N. Johnson, the victim, speaks
I-Team 8 interviewed Ashley N. Johnson, a registered nurse, who said she never worked for Clearvista Lake Health or applied to work there.
She said when the FBI called her in April to let her know that her nursing identity had been stolen, she thought it was a scam.
“I didn’t realize it was such a big thing for identity theft with our medical licenses,” Ashley N. Johnson, the registered nurse, told I-Team 8. “I was hoping that this lady hadn’t done anything crazy that I would have to go to court over or just defend myself as if ‘that’s not me.’”
I-Team 8 reached out to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency for comment about if changes are needed, but did not get a reply.
The agency has been under scrutiny recently after a series of I-Team 8 investigations found the board of nursing failed to act in a timely manner, which led to 60 nurses receiving automatic renewals on their licenses. Some of them faced criminal charges or discipline before the board.