New York Woman Avoids Jail for Criminal HIPAA Violation
A New York woman has avoided a jail term for a criminal violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), having been sentenced to probation. She must also pay thousands of dollars in restitution.
On March 23, 2023, Tonya D’Agostino, 53, of Farmington, New York, mailed a parcel via USPS Priority Mail to an individual in Medina, New York. The parcel contained documents that included the individually identifiable health information of four individuals – information classed as protected health information under HIPAA. The information was obtained without authorization, and D’Agostino was not authorized to disclose the information to the recipient of the parcel. The information was disclosed in an attempt to obtain a payment of $216,000.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated and D’Agostino was arrested and charged for the HIPAA violation. D’Agostino entered a plea agreement where she agreed to plead guilty to a one-count Misdemeanor Information for a violation of Title 42, United States Code Sections 1320d-6(a)(2) and (b)1 – unlawfully obtaining and disclosing individually identifiable health information.
Individuals can face lengthy jail terms for HIPAA violations, substantial fines, and other sanctions. Under the plea agreement, D’Agostino faced a maximum sentence of 1 year in jail, a fine of up to $50,000, plus a mandatory $25 special assessment and supervised release of up to 1 year. At sentencing, Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford chose not to impose a custodial sentence and instead sentenced D’Agostino to 1 year of probation and ordered her to pay $13,410.42 in restitution.
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