Fake 'Nurse of the Year' Turns into Real 'Connecticut Inmate'

NORWALK, Conn. (CBS/AP/WFSB) Betty Lichtenstein, a Connecticut woman who pretended to be a nurse and even spent $2,000 to stage a "Nurse of the Year" dinner for herself, has been sentenced to nine months in jail.

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Lichtenstein was also sentenced on Tuesday to three years of probation on charges of criminal impersonation, practicing nursing without a license and second-degree forgery.

Authorities say the 57-year-old Lichtenstein, who also went by the names Betty Trudel and Betty Ann St. John, worked at a doctor's office dispensing medical advice, writing prescriptions and giving shots even thought she had no medical training.

Prosecutors said Dr. Gerald Weiss believed Lichtenstein was a registered nurse, especially after she was named the Connecticut Nursing Association's "Nurse of the Year" in 2008.

That association does not exist.

According to the arrest warrant, Lichtenstein threw herself an award dinner on Nov. 30, 2008, and 41 guests were in attendance. The warrant claims Weiss was a guest speaker, according to CBS affiliate WFSB.

The state's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit began investigating after a patient complained about Lichtenstein.

Weiss told investigators that Lichtenstein began working for him in October 2007, first as a part-time office manager and then as a full-time registered nurse. He said Lichtenstein's duties included administering injectable medications to patients.