A Baltimore County woman was sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison after she posed as a nurse at more than 40 facilities in Maryland, according to the State's Attorney's Office. 

In August, Thomasina E. Amponsah, 51, pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and making false statements about health care matters.

Identity theft scheme 

According to court documents, she used stolen nursing licenses and a false educational and professional history to obtain employment as a registered nurse and licensed practical nurse without official credentials between September 2019 and August 2023. 

Most of the facilities that Amponsah worked at served as skilled nursing facilities that provided inpatient rehabilitation and medical treatment centers staffed with trained medical professionals, according to court documents. Other facilities included a Baltimore City Public School and multiple nursing homes. 

She earned more than $145,000 in wages from working at the facilities, court documents show. 

In August 2019, Amponsah submitted a job application where she used a fraudulent Maryland nursing license number issued to someone else and a picture of the person's nursing license. In the application, Amponsah modified her name to include the person's last name. She also claimed that she previously served as a nurse supervisor and had a nursing degree from Florida State University, which investigators determined to be untrue. 

Amponsah was fired from one facility after she admitted to forging a physician's signature for an opioid painkiller on a prescription form, according to court documents. 

She also admitted to using a second stolen identity, submitting a fake resume, and using a Florida nursing license on her application for a staffing agency in July 2021. 

Between July 2021 and October 2022, Amponsah worked for at least 21 different facilities with her fake application. 

During shifts in October 2022, court documents show Amponsah failed to administer prescribed medications to multiple patients and falsified medical records. 

The staffing agency eventually confronted and fired her for working as an unlicensed nurse, but she continued to apply using false credentials through August 2023.