(ICYMI) LI Teacher Indicted After Submitting Fake Vax Card: Officials

Editor's note: This article was originally published on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

NEW HYDE PARK, NY — A Long Island teacher was indicted Wednesday after being accused by prosecutors of submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccination card to bypass the district's mandatory testing rules.

Tricia Manno, a Sewanhaka High School teacher, was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument, offering a false instrument for filing, and criminal possession of stolen property. The 47-year-old Lindenhurst resident pleaded not guilty on Wednesday and is due back in Nassau County court on May 24.

If convicted of the top charge, she faces up to seven years in prison, according to officials.

"This defendant allegedly attempted to circumvent the school district's mandatory testing requirement by submitting a vaccine card with obvious forgeries," said Nassau District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly. "Submitting fraudulent documents is a crime, and in this case, one that put the health and safety of students and staff at risk."

Citing the investigation, Donnelly said that Manno submitted a digital copy of a vaccination card to the Sewanhaka Central High School District on Sept. 21, 2021. Staff members are required to provide proof of vaccination to avoid undergoing weekly coronavirus testing, per the district's rules.

Prosecutors said the digital copy of the vaccine card "had several discrepancies," which led district officials to believe it was forged. When asked to submit the original card, Manno said she had lost it, but claimed she was vaccinated at the Northport VA Medical Center.

On Sept. 27, 2021, Manno went to the Northport VA Medical Center to obtain a replacement card. According to prosecutors, she showed a staff member a digital image of the forged vaccination card and claimed that she had lost the original one. The facility gave her a replacement card, even though it had no record of administering the vaccine to Manno, officials said.

On Oct. 5, 2021, Manno met with members of her school district and submitted the replacement card "under false pretenses," prosecutors said.

Patch has reached out to the Sewanhaka Central High School District for comment.

Like Manno, scores of educators, nurses, and other working professionals have been accused of creating or submitting fake vaccination cards to skirt coronavirus mandates.

In New York City, dozens of New York City Department of Education employees were placed on unpaid leave this week for submitting bogus vaccine cards, according to ABC News.

Down in South Carolina, a woman working at a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center pleaded not guilty to federal charges of creating false coronavirus vaccination cards, according to The Associated Press.

Late last year, NBC5 reported that a woman from suburban Chicago was charged with using a fake vaccine card to avoid quarantining during a trip to Hawaii.