So-called nurse was a serial impersonator hired by at least two SoCal hospitals, officials say
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of impersonating a registered nurse and overseeing the care of some 60 patients at a Burbank hospital, authorities said.
Burbank police detectives say it wasn’t the first time that Amanda Leeann Porter, 44, of Virginia, pretended to be a nurse.
Prior to the incident at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, Porter posted bail and was released from the custody of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of committing a similar offense at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, according to the Burbank Police Department.
Burbank police detectives said they learned during their investigation that Porter had obtained employment with various local hospitals using a variety of false identities.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed felony charges of identity theft, false impersonation and grand theft against Porter, according to Burbank police.
She was arraigned Wednesday and is being held at L.A. County Central Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood — this time without bail, detectives said.
Porter worked at Providence Saint Joseph from April 8 to May 8, during which time she received two paychecks, detectives said. Hospital staff contacted the Police Department in May after discovering Porter was impersonating a real registered nurse who lived out of state, detectives said.
A former LAPD sergeant has sued the city of Los Angeles, alleging he faced retaliation after calling out senior members of the department’s SWAT unit over a culture of violence, secrecy and cover-ups.
Porter is also on federal probation for a fraud violation in Virginia, detectives said.
In 2017, a woman named Amanda Porter-Eley pleaded guilty to impersonating a nurse and committing bank fraud in Virginia, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Burbank Police Department would not confirm whether Amanda Leeann Porter and Amanda Porter-Eley are the same person, citing the ongoing investigation. However, their ages match, and in prior court filings Amanda Porter-Eley’s name is also listed as Amanda L. Porter.
Porter-Eley was found guilty of impersonating a registered nurse in Virginia and working for six months as a nursing supervisor without the required licenses, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. At the time, the nurse she was impersonating was living out of state in New York, prosecutors said.
Beginning in September 2015, Porter-Eley used the nurse’s stolen identity to open multiple bank accounts and obtain more than $450,000 in cash, loans, goods and services, including at least three vehicles and one property, according to the Justice Department. She continued to use the false identity until her arrest in 2016 and caused more than $120,000 in losses to banks and retailers.
Porter-Eley also pleaded guilty to opening bank accounts using other people’s Social Security numbers, thereby obtaining nearly $50,000 in worthless checks, according to the Justice Department.
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