Prison for New Orleanian who Exploited Patients’ Stolen Data

A woman from New Orleans has been sent to prison for buying patients’ data stolen from a medical clinic and using it to obtain thousands of dollars fraudulently.

Ashley Green, aged 41, was arrested in 2015 along with her 32-year-old cousin, Royale Lassai, and 37-year-old Brandon Livas following an investigation by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in New Orleans and the US Postal Inspection Service into a fraudulent scheme.

According to court documents, Lassai abused their position as an employee at a medical clinic in Metairie, Louisiana, to access patients’ personal information without authority. Lassai then stole patient data, including dates of birth, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and addresses, and sold it to Green for at least $1000.

Green used the information to fraudulently open accounts in the victim’s names with banks Capital One and Whitney. She then arranged for debit cards tied to the accounts to be mailed to an address under her control.

Court documents state that Green and Livas then used the cards to withdraw at least $200,000 from the victim’s accounts. The pair, who were romantically involved when they committed the offense, used the illegally acquired funds to buy merchandise and go on vacation. 

An investigation was launched after a male victim, who attended the clinic where Lassai worked, checked his bank account, and found $65,000 of unauthorized charges that began in July 2015.

Green’s co-defendants, both from New Orleans, Louisiana, pled guilty in July 2019 to a one-count bill of information with Bank Larceny. Livas was sentenced to serve 15 years in jail for his role in the scheme and Lassai was sentenced to three months of probation.

In August 2021, Green pleaded guilty to a one-count bill of information with Bank Larceny, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113. 

On March 18, US attorney in the Eastern district of Louisiana, Duane A. Evans, announced that Green had been sentenced on March 16 to 15 months in federal prison.

The court ordered Green to pay $205,863 in restitution. Green must also serve three years of supervised release after she completes her custodial sentence.