BARRIE - Hailey Roberts is still shielding her identity.
The woman facing a jail sentence for pretending to be a nurse displayed a different act of duplicity today, donning a medical mask to hide from the cameras as she was bustled away into a waiting vehicle after her sentencing hearing in Bradford.
Roberts, 33, pleaded guilty in July in Barrie to eight counts stemming directly from presenting herself as a nurse, despite not being qualified. Those include three counts of fraud, three for impersonation and two for assault related to administering needles.
Another count, for obstructing police, was tacked on when it was discovered she had provided the identification of another woman when she was stopped by Barrie police for a driving offence.
Roberts, who apologized for her actions on Tuesday, has ties all over Simcoe County, but grew up in Tiny Township.
Among those in attendance Tuesday was the woman whose identity was stolen by Roberts in the commission of the driving offence.
The Crown is seeking a two-year custodial sentence.
Mitch Eisen, who is representing Roberts, made his case before Ontario Court Justice Esther Rosenberg for a year, and asked for it to be served in the community, which is essentially house arrest.
At her June 25 appearance, when Roberts pleaded guilty, court heard that she earned about $118,000 working as a nurse at care facilities during the pandemic.
Several care homes and agencies in the region were duped. A Barrie operation, ParaMed Home Health Care, grew suspicious immediately and called police. That led to an investigation and the resulting charges.
Eisen attempted to impress upon Rosenberg that no one was hurt and that Roberts performed plenty of work that was not strictly nurse duties for which care facilities were strapped trying to find staff to perform.
Crown attorney Sarah Sullivan was having none of Eisen’s attempts at mitigating his client’s actions.
“She is not an unsung hero,” said Sullivan. “She’s an exposed villain.”
Roberts was required to show up for today’s proceedings, 10 weeks after she avoided having to come to court to plead guilty. She attended that proceeding by video in Eisen’s office near the Barrie courthouse, leaving shoeless and in a rush when she became aware that media were waiting outside to get her photo.
On Tuesday, Eisen attempted to use the media attention and the stress it caused as another mitigating factor, telling the court that she lost a bookkeeping job due to the interest in her case.
Eisen did not address the obvious problem of a convicted con artist doing the books for a legitimate business, and how it would seem to be automatic grounds for dismissal upon discovery of her past.
Mostly, however, Eisen attempted to impress upon Rosenberg that Roberts took early responsibility for her crimes by pleading guilty, and that she has a demonstrated, legitimate work history, mostly in the hospitality industry that she hopes to return to one day.
He also attempted to lessen the restitution Roberts will have to pay by pointing out that there was some value in the work she performed, as dishonest as it was, and that she wouldn’t have the means to pay it in any case.
Again, Sullivan was clear in her objection.
“She had no business earning a cent,” said Sullivan. “… She didn’t (legitimately) earn a thing.”
Sullivan had earlier told Rosenberg that a two-year-less-a-day sentence was justified, considering the harm and betrayal felt by the victims and their families.
The damage done to the nursing profession, shaking the public’s confidence that their loved ones will be cared for by qualified, legitimate professionals, is another factor Sullivan asked the judge to consider.
Roberts’s most serious actions were administering needles, mostly flu shots and vaccinations. She also administered insulin and at least one instance of an anti-psychotic drug.
Those under her care were all over 60 years old and there was at least one centenarian, born in 1922, court heard.
Her longest tenure was 11 months at a facility in Midland. Her ruse would come undone when it came time for annual licensing checks, a common practice in certain fields, such as medical and education.
The case returns to case management court in Collingwood in two weeks and is tracking toward the imposition of sentence in December.