Shadd Dean Hartman and Thomas Howard Anderson waived rights to a preliminary hearing Thursday in favor of a plea bargain for the third-degree felony of stealing 1.5 million billing records from the University Hospital in June.
Both men face a second-degree felony charge for receiving stolen property and the third-degree felony for holding on to identity documents. The stolen billing records contained identity information, such as Social Security numbers, for almost 1 million patients and former patients of U Hospitals and Clinics.
The box with the billing records was stolen from a courier’s car he’d parked overnight before transporting the records to an off-site vault.
Salt Lake City Police arrested the two men July 2 after Anderson came forward with the records and ratted out his cohort. Anderson was later bailed out of jail, while his partner was left behind. Hartman has spent the past four months in jail awaiting trial.
“It wouldn’t be cost-efficient to keep both of them…when it was (Anderson) who came forward with the stuff,” said prosecutor Bruce Savage.
The strategy at this point is to avoid going to trial by settling the case with plea bargains at their arraignment. It’s an interesting but simple matter: Their statements were made and the evidence is in, Savage said.
Defense lawyer Scott Wilson declined to comment about the case. Anderson, under legal advice, also declined to comment.
The two men await their joint arraignment, scheduled for Dec. 1. If they take Judge Michele Christiansen’s offer and plead guilty, their convictions will likely be reduced, including the possibility of no prison time.
Neither man said he knew what was in the metal box that contained the records until the theft was publicized by the press a few days later. The Sheriff’s Office offered a $1,000 reward for the return of the records, which police said provided the encouragement for Anderson to make a deal with police and turn in his partner.