Former Nurse Pleads Guilty to Stealing Patient’s Wallet at Norfolk Hospital in 2022

NORFOLK, Va. — Former nurse Ciara Raven Jean, 29, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to stealing the wallet of a hospital patient to whom she was attending and fraudulently charging the patient’s credit cards.

In December 2022, the elderly patient was admitted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and was being attended to by Ms. Jean. During the victim’s stay, Ms. Jean helped the victim get up to leave her room and then stole the victim’s wallet from her purse while she was gone. Ms. Jean then used the victim’s credit cards for multiple charges. While she was still hospitalized, the victim checked her banking accounts, noticed Ms. Jean’s fraudulent charges, realized that her wallet was missing, and reported the theft to hospital staff. The hospital staff then checked surveillance footage and saw Ms. Jean stealing the victim’s wallet.

On Wednesday, Ms. Jean pleaded guilty to felony credit card larceny and misdemeanor credit card fraud. In exchange for Ms. Jean’s guilty pleas, the Commonwealth had withdrawn additional credit card larceny and fraud charges at her preliminary hearing. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Ms. Jean’s plea agreement, found her guilty, and set her sentencing hearing on Feb. 14.

“Nurses are among the most trusted professionals in America, and Ms. Jean abused that trust in so shamelessly stealing from a hospitalized victim in her care,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “I commend the staff of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital for their quick action to uncover Ms. Jean’s crime and their cooperation with the police. I also commend the hospital for having a surveillance system in place that allowed for a quick arrest and for a conviction in this case. We will seek a sentence for Ms. Jean that reflects the blameworthiness of her actions.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney A. Robinson Winn is prosecuting Ms. Jean’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective Johnson L. Freeman Jr. led the investigation.

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