Lewes paramedic accused of selling fake vaccine cards
Federal authorities say a Lewes paramedic made about $1,300 selling fake vaccination cards, according to court documents first reported by the Daily Beast.
The complaint accuses former Sussex County EMS paramedic David Hodges, who worked at a vaccine site in Dover as part of his job, of developing a scheme to sell cards to people who weren’t vaccinated beginning around February 2021. That was soon after COVID-19 vaccines began to be made available.
Officials say Hodges at first used blank vaccination cards from the Nebraska health department. Once he got access to the vaccine site, he took blank cards from there and used legitimate vaccine batch numbers from sites near his customers’ addresses to make fake cards, according to the court documents.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic has persisted, many municipalities, schools and companies require proof of vaccination in order to participate in activities. Such requirements have increased demand for fraudulent vaccination cards,” the complaint notes.
Hodges faces a maximum penalty of six months in prison, a $5,000 fine, a year of supervised release, and, in a final bureaucratic flourish, a “$10 special assessment.”
Sussex County EMS Director Robbie Murray told the Daily Beast that he was aware of the charges and that Hodges is no longer employed by the agency.
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Andrew Sharp
Andrew Sharp
Andrew Sharp