A former doctor was sentenced to 10 months in prison and three years of supervised release for using a stolen identity to apply for medical jobs. U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone handed down the sentence on Monday in St. Louis.
Angela K. Boston, who previously went by Angela Williams, used the identity of a St. Louis physician to seek employment with the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority in Oklahoma in April 2023. According to court records, Boston submitted forged diplomas and a fake State of Missouri medical license as part of her application materials. The victim later discovered that Boston had also attempted to gain employment elsewhere using her personal information.
Boston was indicted under her maiden name but has since married.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll wrote in a sentencing memorandum that the victimized doctor was the same person whose identity Boston had used before to illegally obtain controlled substances. Carroll noted that "Boston spent years victimizing someone who has done nothing wrong."
Boston, now 40 and residing in Kansas, pleaded guilty in 2020 to obtaining controlled substances by fraud or forgery. She admitted to writing and signing prescriptions for painkillers such as hydrocodone and oxycodone using other people’s names, sometimes posing as a patient herself at pharmacies. She also used another doctor's prescription pad and Drug Enforcement Administration number for additional fraudulent prescriptions.
“When a fraudster steals the identity of a physician to secure medical employment, the integrity of our health care system and the safety and well-being of patients are put at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Linda T. Hanley of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG will continue to thoroughly investigate health care fraud to protect taxpayer-funded health care programs and the many millions of Americans who depend on them.”
Williams pleaded guilty in October at U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of identity theft.
The investigation was conducted by HHS-OIG, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll prosecuting.
