A former respiratory therapist at ProMedica Bay Park Hospital convicted of illegally accessing patient records was placed on probation for two years Tuesday and ordered to spend 48 hours in the Lucas County jail.
Jamie Knapp, 26, of Adrian, also was ordered by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge James Knepp to pay a $500 fine, undergo random drug testing and a psychiatric and substance abuse assessment. She must serve the jail time within 45 days.
“Miss Knapp, I need you to see what the inside of a jail cell looks like as a result of what’s gone on here,” Judge Knepp told her. “I don’t know why you did what you did, but I want you to see what happens to people who have committed crimes.”
At a jury trial in June, Ms. Knapp was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of obtaining individually identifiable health information for looking at some 594 patient records at Bay Park between May, 2013, and March, 2014.
Federal prosecutors suggested to the jury that Ms. Knapp was attempting to find out what type of medication patients were being prescribed so that she could steal the drugs either for herself or someone else. She was not charged with theft of drugs or identity theft.
Ms. Knapp made no statement when given the opportunity to do so at her sentencing hearing.
Her attorney, David I. Goldstein, said Ms. Knapp admitted to looking at the records but does not believe she did anything wrong.
“It’s clear she wasn’t doing this for any financial gain … and she probably wasn’t doing this for any personal gain,” Mr. Goldstein said. “There may not be an explanation that’s satisfactory to anyone but my client.”
Insisting he was not downplaying the seriousness of the offense, Mr. Goldstein asked the court for probation.
“This isn’t Edward Snowden sitting next to me. This isn’t Julian Assange,” he said. “This is a naive young lady, by her mother’s description, a little odd, who did things that maybe we’ll never understand.”
Noah Hood, an assistant U.S. Attorney, asked the court to impose a six-month prison sentence to send a message to others who have access to confidential records.
“In an era where our information is increasingly insecure, this is an opportunity for the court to get it right, to send a message that this is unacceptable,” Mr. Hood said.
Judge Knepp told Ms. Knapp that he hoped she would get help for whatever problem she has.
“There were a great deal of patient records that were accessed by you,” he said. “You claimed it was for a different purpose, but the jury did not believe that and, to be clear, neither did I.”
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.
First Published October 19, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
