State Inspector General: Psychiatric nurse arrested for using forged doctor note to take time off work

MARCY, N.Y. — A psychiatric nurse at the Central New York Psychiatric Center is under arrest, accused of using a forged doctor’s certificate to allow “extended work absences without repercussions.” 

New York State Police have arrested Russell Angell, 43, of Yorkville in Oneida County, the office of New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott said in a news release.

Angell is charged with two felony counts each of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree and possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.

The inspector general’s investigation found that Angell, a psychiatric nurse II for the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), twice used a forged doctor’s certificate to “defraud” OMH and enable his extended absence from his state job under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). 

The certifications allow employees to take “repeated spontaneous and extended” sick leave without having to provide any further explanations. 

He used a forged certificate in July 2015 and again in November 2015 for FMLA leave from his job at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy.

“This defendant used falsified physician certificates to defraud the state so he could make use of critical benefits reserved for legitimate family leave or dire medical issues,” Leahy Scott said in the news release. “I will continue using the powers of my office to pursue anyone who defrauds the state and takes benefits to which they are not entitled.”

Angell was arraigned in Town of Marcy Court and released to reappear Dec. 8, Leahy Scott’s office said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com