NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Distribution

April 29, 2008

Thomas P. O’Brien

United States Attorney

Central District of California

Thom Mrozek, Public Affairs Officer

(213) 894-6947

thom.mrozek@usdoj.gov
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac

FORMER UCLA HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE INDICTED FOR SELLING INFORMATION FROM CELEBRITIES’ MEDICAL FILES TO MEDIA

A Los Angeles woman has been indicted for accessing the private medical records of celebrity patients at the UCLA Medical Center and selling information obtained from those files to a national media outlet.

Lawanda Jackson, 49, w as indicted under seal on April 9. That indictment, which alleges one count of illegally obtaining individually identifiable health information for commercial advantage, was unsealed this morning.

Jackson, an administrative specialist at the UCLA Medical Center from 2006 until she w as terminated on May 21, 2007, allegedly received at least $4,600 from the media outlet in exchange for providing the private medical information. The media outlet paid Jackson by w riting checks to her husband, the indictment alleges.

Jackson, who faces a potential sentence of 10 years in prison if she is convicted of the charge, is expected to be arraigned on the felony count on June 9 in United States District Court in Los Angeles.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case w as investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation.