Baltimore County Woman Who Impersonated Nurses Sentenced: DOJ

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — A Baltimore County woman who impersonated nurses was sentenced this week to 38 months in federal prison, prosecutors announced.

The Department of Justice said Thomasina E. Amponsah, 51, used stolen nursing licenses to obtain employment as a registered nurse and licensed practical nurse, but never held a nursing license or credential of her own.

As part of a plea agreement, the DOJ said Amponsah admitted to making false statements in connection with health care matters and aggravated identity theft.

“People in the community were subjected to danger and harm,” U.S. Senior District Judge Richard D. Bennett said, according to The Baltimore Banner. “I find this to be an egregious breach of trust on your part.”

Prosecutors alleged that Amponsah used the stolen credentials to obtain work as a purported licensed nurse at no less than 40 facilities in Maryland between September 2019 and August 2023. Most of the jobs came from a short-term staffing agency. Amponsah did not apply to 40 unique jobs.

Amponsah is accused of forging a physician's signature for Tramadol, an opioid painkiller, on a controlled medication prescription form and then faxing the form to a pharmacy. She's also accused of failing to administer prescribed medication to multiple patients and then falsifying the corresponding medical records.

The Banner said Amponsah, who was actually a certified medical assistant, must pay more than $145,000 in restitution. That's how much the DOJ said Amponsah earned in wages from the jobs.

Amponsah's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Christina Wong, requested a two-year prison sentence, The Banner said. Wong argued that her client has already been punished because her conviction will bar her from future health care work.

“We’re asking for quite a severe sentence,” Wong said, according to The Banner. “There’s already been punishment that’s been doled out.”