MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) – A former Long Island high school teacher accused of injecting a teen with a COVID-19 vaccine at her home without her parents’ knowledge has been sentenced to community service and probation for evading a felony. sentenced to. Charges that could send him to jail.
Laura Parker Russo, 55, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of attempted unauthorized practice of medicine when she appeared in a courtroom in Mineola, New York, on Friday. He also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.
Russo was arrested in early January, and authorities accused her of administering vaccine doses to a 17-year-old son she knew. Newsday reported that Russo later testified at a hearing about his job that he received the dose when a pharmacist asked for an empty vial to use as a Christmas ornament.
Authorities said the teen later told his parents, who called the police. Prosecutors initially charged him with unauthorized practice of a profession, a felony with a prison sentence of up to four years.
Rousseau was a science teacher for many years; He was later fired.
political cartoon
On Friday, Judge Howard Sturim ordered her to complete 100 hours of community service in one year, while on interim probation. She was also ordered to attend therapy twice a week and to stay away from the juvenile.
If Russo completes the community service requirement, prosecutors will drop the misdemeanor charge.
A spokesman for the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office said it agreed to the plea and sentence “based on the defendant’s longstanding ties to the community and his lack of a criminal record.”
Russo’s attorney, Gerard McCloskey, told Newsday that the plea agreement was “in the interests of justice as well as the best interests of my client.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
