Riverside Woman Gets 5 Years Behind Bars For Fraud, Identity Theft

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Riverside woman was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison for stealing dozens of elderly patients' private information at a Long Beach convalescent facility.

U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real also ordered Bridgette Jackson, 45, to three years of supervised release after she gets out of prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In January, a federal jury convicted Jackson of possessing and conspiring to possess more than 15 identities, as well as aggravated identity theft.

According to testimony, an employee at the now-closed Hillcrest Care Center provided Jackson with patient files. Jackson then used that information to help others file false tax returns in the names of the patients and keep the refunds for themselves.

Officers recovered  more than 50 Hillcrest medical records, along with almost 70 other identity profiles from Jackson's home. They also seized more than 50 prepaid debit cards that did not belong to her.

In a separate case, Jackson pleaded guilty last year in Riverside federal court to conspiring to commit credit card fraud and faces up to five years incarceration when she is sentenced March 28.