A paramedic who worked at a COVID-19 vaccination site in Delaware is facing federal charges for selling stolen—but real—vaccination cards to unvaccinated buyers, a criminal complaint filed Tuesday alleges.
David Hodges, 30, was assigned to a vaccination facility in Dover, according to the complaint. In early 2021, he “devised a plan to obtain COVID-19 vaccination cards for the purpose of selling the cards to individuals who did not receive the vaccine,” states the filing.
At first, Hodges printed blank vaccination cards at home that he was somehow able to obtain from the website of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, says the complaint. But, it adds, “once he gained access to a vaccine administration site,” namely, the one in Dover, Hodges simply started stealing them at work.
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When Hodges linked up with a buyer, he would “use that individual’s address to look up vaccination sites near that person’s residence in order to obtain legitimate lot numbers for the COVID-19 vaccines being administered in that area,” the complaint says. “Hodges would then fill out the vaccination card using those lot numbers and the person’s date of birth.”
Fees varied, but prosecutors say Hodges “generated approximately $1,300 from the sale of fraudulent vaccination cards” between February and June. The charge against him is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
While selling fraudulent vaccination cards is itself a crime, purchasing and using them is also against the law, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Demand for black market cards has been flourishing, and cards typically cost anywhere from $100 or $150 to as much as $450 for, in one instance, a vaccine card and entry into New York State’s official vaccination database by a co-conspirator on the inside.
Of course, phony proof of vaccination exposes countless numbers of others to great risk, with the cards used as proof to enter certain spaces, such as restaurants and gyms in various localities, that are restricted to the vaccinated. There is no centralized national database tracking those who get vaccinated, although some states have implemented their own systems.
Sussex County EMS Director Robbie Murray said he was aware of the charges, and that the agency parted ways with Hodges a month after the feds say the alleged scheme ended.
“David Hodges is no longer employed by us, we separated employment in July,” Murray told The Daily Beast. “Since the investigation is ongoing, we’re not going to make any further comment.”
Hodges’ attorney, Jeffrey P. Scaggs, declined to comment when reached by The Daily Beast.
