Former nurse in Springfield pleads guilty to creating false documents She admits she drafted them to help a wanted sex offender apply for new identity cards

10-17-2012 Oregon:

A former hospital nurse pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to commit mail fraud, admitting that she created fake prenatal and birth records to help a wanted sex offender obtain a new identity and Social Security card.

Willy Gibson Whitebird also admitted to federal judge Michael Hogan that she’d lied under oath in Lane County Circuit Court to help fugitive Michael Allen Snow, 27, obtain a delayed birth certificate in the name of Winter Rain Waters. Her sentencing is set for Jan. 8.

Whitebird, 55, worked as a nurse at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield until June. A hospital spokeswoman declined to say why Whitebird, who was placed on leave after her April federal indictment, is no longer an employee.

Whitebird, who had also been a self-employed midwife, falsely told a circuit court judge in February 2011 that she’d provided prenatal care for “Waters” and attended his birth in a converted school bus on “The Rainbow Farm” in 1987. Whitebird presented bogus, backdated records of such care, and falsely asserted that Snow’s parents were “Misty Summer Rain” and “William Waters” and that the couple never registered his birth.

Her false testimony and records helped persuade Lane County Circuit Judge Mustafa Kasubhai to order the state to issue a delayed birth certificate for “Waters.”

Snow used that document to obtain a Social Security card and an official Oregon identification card as Winter Rain Waters. But the ruse was thwarted by facial recognition software running on the state motor vehicles department database. Used to detect suspected identity theft or Social Security fraud, the software found a likely match between “Waters’” new ID card image and Snow’s old driver’s license photo. State officials alerted the federal Inspector General’s Office, which began an investigation.

That probe quickly revealed that “Waters” was actually Snow, who served more than eight years in state prison after being convicted of forcibly raping a fellow teen at age 15, according to a federal agent’s February sworn statement to get a search warrant in the fraud case. While Snow was trying to get documents as Winter Rain Waters, a warrant was out for Snow’s arrest for failing to register as a sex offender, the agent’s affidavit said.

It also revealed Whitebird’s likely incentive to help Snow get a fresh start under a new name: He was reportedly the father of her twin grandchildren.

He pleaded not guilty in May to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, making a false statement to a government agency, and two counts of failure to register as a sex offender. His case is set for trial Nov. 28.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Helen Cooper told Hogan that the government will seek no more than a 30-day jail sentence and three years of probation for Whitebird, citing her acceptance of responsibility and previous good record. Before entering her guilty plea, however, Whitebird acknowledged that Hogan could impose a longer sentence, and that the maximum possible penalty for mail fraud conspiracy is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The government will also seek Whitebird’s assurance that all falsified documents have been surrendered, Cooper said.

Whitebird also acknowledged Hogan’s warning that her guilty plea could end her “ability to engage in certain occupations.”

Oregon State Nursing Board spokeswoman Barbara Holtry said Whitebird is still a licensed Oregon nurse, but that her status could change if the agency conducts a disciplinary hearing on her criminal conduct. That is not likely to occur until after Whitebird’s sentencing, she said. ..Source.. by Karen McCowan