(STMW) – A former Alexian Brothers employee pleaded guilty to forgery Monday, admitting she sent phony letters to patients saying they needed lobotomies — part of a plan to embarrass the hospital for firing her.
Michelle Morrison, 52, of Elk Grove Village, pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery, Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokesman Stephen Campbell said.
Judge Bridget Jane Hughes sentenced Morrison to 30 months’ probation, the first 12 months to be intensive, Campbell said. She must also pay a $689 fine.
Prosecutors accused Morrison of sending letters to Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital patients, claiming their electroshock therapy treatment had not worked and recommending they undergo frontal lobotomies.
Her lies were meant to embarrass the Hoffman Estates facility for firing her in 2010, authorities said at the time of her arrest. She had been a senior account representative at the hospital for five years, but did not have a clinical role or direct contact with patients.
She was arrested after patients who received her correspondence contacted Alexian Brothers, which identified her through an internal investigation and contacted the Cook County Sheriff’s office, authorities said.
Sheriff’s detectives found copies of patient files, blank letterheads, envelopes, mailing labels and other miscellaneous paperwork in a search of her home, authorities said.
Morrison sent at least six letters to patients between Feb. 5, 2011, and June 25, 2012, the sheriff’s office said at the time. Some of the letters included vulgar comments and threats of exposing sensitive information to victims’ families
She made verbal and written confessions to police after her arrest, according to police.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
