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Kalispell woman pleads guilty in hospital patient record fraud scheme

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Saturday, December 21, 2024

Kalispell woman pleads guilty in hospital patient record fraud scheme

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U.S. Attorney Jesse A. Laslovich | U.S. Department of Justice

A Kalispell woman has admitted to charges of fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme involving the misuse of patient records from Kalispell Regional Medical Center. U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich announced that Alecia Mae Leonetti, 50, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Leonetti could face up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release for the wire fraud charge. For the aggravated identity theft charge, she faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, along with a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release.

U.S. Magistrate Kathleen L. DeSoto presided over the proceedings where Leonetti entered her plea. Sentencing is scheduled for April 24, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen. The court will determine Leonetti's sentence after considering relevant guidelines and statutory factors. She was released pending further proceedings.

Court documents reveal that between September 2020 and December 2020, Krista Hall—Leonetti’s co-defendant—was employed at Kalispell Regional Medical Center with access to patient records due to her position there. Leonetti reportedly obtained stolen credit or debit cards and contacted Hall to retrieve personal identifying information about cardholders from hospital records.

This information was then used by Leonetti to activate the stolen cards for making purchases or withdrawing cash. In one case cited by authorities, Leonetti activated a Glacier Bank credit card belonging to an individual referred to as John Doe using information provided by Hall and incurred more than $2,400 in charges at several businesses in Kalispell over two days in September 2020.

Krista Hall has pleaded not guilty to related charges and awaits trial.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is handling prosecution duties while the FBI and Flathead County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation into this matter.

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