Identity thief sentenced to 4 years in federal prison

BRIDGEPORT » A former employee at Yale New Haven Hospital who conspired to try to end the life of a woman to collect from a fraudulent life insurance policy was sentenced to four years in federal prison Tuesday.

Jamila Williams-Stevenson, 37, of West Haven, had stolen the identification information of a woman and created a life insurance policy with herself as a beneficiary. She then discussed with a co-conspirator via text message how the pair might kill the woman to collect on the policy, according to a release from the U.S. attorney’s office. The life insurance policy was in the amount of $75,000, the release said.

Williams-Stevenson’s coconspirator, Lorena Coburn, has pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft and awaits sentencing. Williams-Stevenson pleaded guilty to those same charges in December.

According to court documents, Williams-Stevenson worked as a personal care companion for Yale New Haven Health from July 2011 until her arrest in July 2016. Her scheme involved stealing the names, dates of birth, and Social Security cards of at least 30 victims, including some patients at YNHH, and then applying for financial accounts in the victims’ names.

In applying for the financial accounts, Williams-Stevenson and Coburn applied for changes of address for the victims and used the address of the house next door to Coburn, according to court documents.

In one instance, Williams-Stevenson and Coburn created a life insurance policy for a woman, who was not a patient, and subsequently texted each other about how they might assist in causing the woman’s death in order to collect on the policy. They were not successful.

“We are pleased that Ms. Williams-Stevenson is being held accountable for her actions,” said Mark D’Antonio, a spokesman for Yale New Haven Health, in an emailed statement. “While she is no longer employed by YNHH, her actions were reprehensible and do not represent our values.”

Williams-Stevenson was represented by Todd Bussert during the proceedings Tuesday. In his own memorandum to the court, Bussert elaborated on what his client’s three children have gone through since her arrest. He asked the court to be considerate of the children when sentencing WilliamsStevenson and asked the court to consider a lengthy period of supervision.

“Thus, while not seeking to diminish the seriousness of her admitted misconduct, society is not served by removing caring and involved parents from their families for any longer than is necessary,” Bussert wrote in the memorandum.

“Where Ms. Williams Stevenson presents with a strong employment history and work ethic, a term of incarceration is more counterproductive than beneficial ,” Bussert added. “Rather, appropriate community-based supervision and services further the ends of rehabilitation and best address specific deterrence concerns, specifically allowing Ms. Williams-Stevenson to resume work and care for her children while receiving any necessary services.”

Bussert said in his memorandum that Williams-Stevenson’s criminal conduct resulted from her “misplaced self worth measures” and a rough childhood in a violent area of New Haven.

Bussert declined to comment further when reached by the Register Tuesday.

While there were numerous letters submitted in support of Williams-Stevenson and her character, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarala Nagala said in a sentencing memorandum to the court that the government had continuing concerns about the defendant and how remorseful she felt, given that she had discussed the “victim’s murder so cavalierly” in text messages.

Nagala added in her comments that she found the text messages between WilliamsStevenson and Co burn particularly cruel when they discussed pushing a victim off of East Rock or making a stabbing death look like a “drug deal gone wrong.”

“In sum, Williams-Stevenson’s case is not an ordinary identity theft case,” Nagala wrote in the memorandum. “It is instead a case of a serial fraudster who took advantage of people in vulnerable situations and, in one instance, went so far as to plot another person’s death for her own financial gain.”