Mayfield Heights Man Charged with Violating HIPAA
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 20, 2012 |
A three-count indictment was returned today charging Henry L. Thrasher, age 67, of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, with violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), said Carole S. Rendon, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Thrasher was charged with illegally accessing a local hospital’s protected computer system and thereby obtaining the individually identifiable health information of a number of the hospital’s patients.
The indictment further charges Thrasher with disclosing this individually identifiable health information, with malicious and harmful intent, to another individual.
If convicted, Thrasher’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including Thrasher’s prior criminal records, if any; his role in the offense; and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael L. Collyer and Chelsea S. Rice, following investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.