Schneiderman: Ilion nursing-home officials covered up resident abuse and neglect

ILION, N.Y. — The owners and top managers of a nursing home in Ilion have been arrested and indicted for allegedly covering up “patient abuse and neglect.”

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the arrests and indictments in a news release issued Thursday.

The investigation focused on MVNH Associates, LLC, which does business as Mohawk Valley Health Care Center.

Owners Gerald (Jerry) Wood III and Justin Wood; John Prendergast, a licensed nursing-home administrator; and Nicolle Wagner Stinson, director of nursing, were arraigned Thursday in Herkimer County Court before Judge John Crandall, Schneiderman’s office said.

The 45-count indictment alleges crimes arising from the “suppression” of two incidents of patient abuse and neglect, and related charges of falsifying records.

Schneiderman’s office noted that not all defendants are charged with every crime alleged in the indictment, except for the corporation, MVNH Associates, LLC.

The indictment details allegations arising from “two apparent incidents” that happened in May 2013, and an “alleged cover-up of the two incidents,” according to Schneiderman’s office. The first alleged incident involved a “serious medication error that went unnoticed for several days,” the news release stated.

The second alleged incident involved a resident suffering from dementia “engaging in unlawful sexual conduct towards another resident in an unsupervised dining room.”

When these incidents “came to light,” it is alleged that owner Jerry Wood III “criminally eavesdropped” on investigators from the New York Attorney General’s Office while they were conducting an interview with a nursing-home employee about the incidents, according to Schneiderman’s office.

The indictment also alleges a “conspiracy” involving facility part-owner and technical manager Justin Wood and other defendants “destroying electronic evidence of the alleged events,” the office said.

MVNH Associates is charged with all of the crimes committed by the individual defendants, as it is alleged that these owners and managers were “acting on behalf of the corporation,” according to Schneiderman’s office.

The office also listed the individual charges against each defendant.

Jerry Wood III, 30, of Dix Hills, N.Y. (Suffolk County), is charged with two counts of willful violation of health laws; one count of eavesdropping; and one count of conspiracy in the 5th degree.

Nicolle Wagner Stinson, 39, of Fort Plain, N.Y. (Montgomery County), is charged with two counts of willful violation of health laws; one count of eavesdropping; one count of conspiracy in the 5th degree; eight counts of tampering with physical evidence, a class E felony; 18 counts of falsifying business records in the 1st degree, also an E felony; one count of forgery in the 3rd degree, a class A misdemeanor; and 12 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the 3rd degree, a class A misdemeanor.

John Prendergast, 46, of Utica, is charged with two counts of willful violation of health laws; one count of conspiracy in the 5th degree; and two counts of tampering with physical evidence, a class E felony.

Justin Wood, 29, of Dix Hills, is charged with one count of conspiracy in the 5th degree.

The maximum penalty for the felony crimes of eavesdropping, falsifying business records in the first degree, and tampering with physical evidence is 1 1/3 to four years imprisonment.

The maximum penalty for the misdemeanor crimes of willful violation of the health law; criminal possession of a forged instrument in the 3rd degree; forgery in the third degree; and conspiracy in the 5th degree is one year in jail.

The charges against the defendants are “merely accusations,” and the defendants are “presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty,” Schneiderman’s office noted.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com