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Nurse Who Stole Dead Man's Credit Card Gets 30 Days
Duane Bourne / The Virginian-Pilot
September 18, 2008
Matthew Wiseman, a registered nurse who pilfered a dead patient’s credit card, was ordered to serve a month in jail on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old man, who pleaded guilty to credit card theft and credit card fraud, used the card of Michael Puopolo in March to buy a laptop computer hours after the 75-year-old man was pronounced dead at Sentara Bayside Hospital. On Wednesday, Circuit Judge A. Joseph Canada Jr. found Wiseman guilty of the two felonies and sentenced him to eight years in prison with all but 30 days suspended.
Wiseman was working in the emergency room when Puopolo was transported to the hospital. Puopolo was found slumped over in his car in the parking lot of a BJ’s Wholesale Club store, and was later pronounced dead of a heart attack.
Six hours after Puopolo died, Wiseman was captured on surveillance footage at a Best Buy store wearing his hospital scrubs and using the stolen Visa card to buy a $1,800 laptop computer, according to prosecutors.
Hospital workers identified him from the video and he was fired for violating Sentara’s ethics policy.
(c) YellowBrix 2008
NERSESYANNELLI
29 days ago
12 comments
BY THE WHICH PART OF HIS BODY WAS THAT GUY THINKING?
jilmaki1
about 1 month ago
20 comments
If he would take advantage of a deceased patient like this.....what on earth has he done to take advantage of patients that are still alive!
bookishfilly
about 1 month ago
18 comments
What has happened to ethics in nursing?
Kristinaveale
about 1 month ago
54 comments
It is these kind of people who are giving nurses a bad rep. It just makes me realize that just because your are "smart" according to the Board standard, you may not be smart at all. Really, who does this. What an IDIOT!
Seckenrode
about 1 month ago
12 comments
i have one word for this guy... MORON!!!
FLNURSE00
about 1 month ago
8 comments
Just think its book smart people like him that pass boards and get to be a nurse, but dont have a lick of common sense in his head to think about perhaps changing out of his scrubs before using his dead patients CC at a BEST BUY that we all know have cameras covering your every move....It's morons like him that make it look like we have so many "MEDICATION ERRORS", makes me wonder how many medication errors are really "MORON ERRORS"
mcsrubio
about 1 month ago
8 comments
Awwwsss...very bad move! He must've forgotten there are A LOT OF CAMERAS around!!! ** sneaky boy **
surfmom23
about 1 month ago
78 comments
And you know the people that rip off the feds go away for life. At least we know who really counts!
crys5881
about 1 month ago
32 comments
I cant believe it was only 30 days.....you would think it deserved more!
ProudNavyWife
about 1 month ago
800 comments
Wow...a month in jail...that is truely sad. People never cease to amaze me...well, I believe in Karma, what goes around come around.
badcotoyou
about 1 month ago
2 comments
Sadd it is stupid why would you give up a $50,000 dollar career for a $1800 laptop
juliern734
about 1 month ago
3466 comments
How very sad .
lipgloss
about 1 month ago
4 comments
this is sad
terrah
about 1 month ago
1348 comments
How sad to think that he must not think high enough of himself or his career that he'd go and disgrace himself and his profession. Some people just love to make it hard on the rest of us. And as for the time he served....no way, that just seems so wrong. He had to get more then that!!!
mgraves
about 1 month ago
6 comments
I can't believe he did something like this. I mean nurses make really good money. I wonder if he has a substance abuse problem on top of this. How could he not get caught wearing hospital scrubs LOL -he needs to have a heart attack.