Here’s a story straight out of a movie or TV show. A Georgia man admitted he created fake email addresses and concocted other information to frame an acquaintance of committing violations of patient privacy.
Jeffrey Parker, 43, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of False Statements. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to five years in federal prison.
Parker attempted to make himself look like a whistleblower. The complicated scheme started when he contacted The U.S. Department of Justice with alleged evidence.
Parker created email addresses using the names of real individuals and pretended to be these individuals to make it appear as if the acquaintance committed a crime. He sent these communications to the hospital where the acquaintance worked, to the DOJ, and to the FBI. Parker then claimed to have received threatening messages in retaliation for acting as a whistleblower, prompting FBI agents to ensure his safety and quickly investigate his allegations. When an FBI agent interviewing Parker found inconsistencies in his story, Parker admitted concocting the scheme in an attempt to harm the former acquaintance.
“Many hours of investigative resources were wasted determining Parkers’ whistleblower claims were a scheme to damage a former acquaintance,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Now he will pay for his deliberate transgression and we can affirm that these types of actions will be exposed and punished.”