Ex-medical aide pleads guilty in ID theft case

Ex-medical aide pleads guilty in ID theft case

A former medical assistant in Hollywood pleaded guilty Thursday to pilfering information from a Memorial Healthcare System database and stealing the identities of thousands of South Florida residents.

La Toya Yvette Tillman, 33, admitted to one count of possessing unauthorized access devices and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 24 before U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayle in Miami.

Federal prosecutors said Tillman, who worked at Gastroenterology Consultants in Hollywood, used her work computer to obtain the personal information of 2,000 people. She sold them for $1 each to a man named Hadrick Smith, who used the information to file fraudulent tax returns, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Tillman also had the personal information of another 114 people in her car when she was under investigation in June 2012.

She faces up to 10 years in prison on the access charge, and an additional mandatory two-year prison term for the identity theft charge.

As part of a plea deal, prosecutors vowed to seek a more lenient sentence than the 10-year maximum.

After her release, she may have to serve up to three years of probation and pay a fine of up to $250,000.

Court documents didn’t specify whether charges have been filed against Smith, but part of Tillman’s plea deal requires her to reveal what she knows about how she and others benefited financially from the crimes.

Legal Shred
11806 S US Hwy 41
Gibsonton, FL 33534
813-321-4507