PHOENIX — A 58-year-old Arizona woman has been sentenced to prison after she was caught practicing medicine and writing prescriptions without a license during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pamela O'Guinn was sentenced last week to five years in the Arizona Department of Corrections after she pleaded guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court to fraud, forgery, and identity theft.
>> VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Enfermera impostora irá a prisión en Arizona por practicar medicina durante la pandemia
The Arizona Attorney General's Office said the state Board of Nursing began investigating O'Guinn after the defendant falsely claimed in a child custody hearing that she a was medical professional and had been providing services to one of the parties in the custody case.
O'Guinn had been treating patients and writing prescriptions as a nurse practitioner under the name "Dr. Pamela Robinson," the AG's office said.
Public records show O'Guinn allegedly applied for an APRN certification in Arizona by using personal information stolen from someone in Maine. O'Guinn had been employed at a wellness center in Youngtown during this time.
"While misrepresenting yourself as a nurse practitioner, you wrote numerous prescriptions, for multiple patients for controlled substances," the nursing board wrote in a letter to O'Guinn in March 2021.
As part of her plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss several other felony charges against O'Guinn.
Court records show the defendant's crimes were committed between May 2020 and February 2021, which would have been during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Arizona Board of Nursing publishes a list on its website of individuals they believe to be nurse imposters.
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