NASSAU-Two former correctional officers are now inmates at the facility where they once worked.
The tables tuned on Mercette Pinder and Aryett Lightbourne after they defrauded the government in a sick slip scam.
The men turned in fake Public Hospital Authority sick certificates after they missed worked in 2018 and 2019.
But it turned out that neither man had registered at the Princess Margaret Hospital when they claimed a doctor had determined they were unfit for work.
Commissioner of Corrections Charles Murphy called in cops because he suspected the submitted sick slips were forgeries.
Pinder turned in two bogus sick slips, excusing him from work from November 24, 2018 through December 11, 2018. As a result, Pinder defrauded the government of $1,514.16.
For his part, Lightbourne missed six days from work in 2019, by presenting sick slips dated from May 8 through 10 and June 9 to June 11. Consequently, Lightbourne fraudulently obtained $360.96 in pay.
When arrested, both men claimed that they received the forged sick slips from nurses.
Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt said the men needed jail time in order to deter others from committing the same scam.
She sentenced Pinder to 60 days’ imprisonment and Lightbourne to 40 days’ imprisonment for uttering forged documents and fraud by false pretenses.
Both men could avoid spending another three months behind bars by paying fines totaling $1,000 and repaying the money they were paid.
