REDDING - A nurse practitioner was arrested and arraigned on felony charges related to issuing fraudulent and forged prescriptions, practicing medicine without a license, and identity theft.  Naomi LeGate (aka Katy LeGate), of Mt. Shasta,  was employed at a medical office in Redding when she allegedly committed the crimes.  She was arrested on July 19, 2016 and arraigned on August 2, 2016.

"According to records, LeGate has been on felony probation since October 2014 for prescription forgery and identity theft crimes she committed and was convicted of in Santa Cruz County," said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona.  "I commend Department of Consumer Affairs Investigator Helen Tennyson and Shasta County District Attorney Investigator Joseph Hendrix for putting a stop to LeGate's alleged crimes.  We put our health and trust in the hands of medical professionals and LeGate should not have been in possession of prescription pads or prescribing medicine to patients."

According to the investigation, as a nurse practitioner at the medical office in Redding, LeGate wrote prescriptions from June 17 2015 to September 29, 2015, despite the probationary terms from Santa Cruz County.  As a nurse practitioner without a Furnishing Certificate, LeGate could not legally authorize or sign any prescription forms.  During this time period, all prescriptions that LeGate wrote required authorization and a signature from her employing doctor.  Among the prescriptions written by LeGate, investigators found prescriptions which were not authorized by her employing doctor and contained signatures which were not that of her employing doctor.

LeGate was arrested on a no-bail bench warrant was issued by Santa Cruz County Superior Court.  She is scheduled to appear in that court on August 24, 2016.  The Board of Registered Nursing issued a Cease Practice Notice to Legate on February 23, 2016.  LeGate is currently prohibited from practicing as a Registered Nurse of a Nurse Practitioner.