“I Sold Farrah Fawcett and Britney Spears Medical Files To Newspaper”

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An LA hospital worker has just pleaded guilty to selling medical files of stars like Britney Spears and Farrah Fawcett to the National Enquirer.

Up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines

The consequences involved with breaking medical privacy laws for commercial purposes could be hefty, and include up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She’s due for sentencing in May of 2009.

Prosecutors in the case said that Lawanda Jackson, 49, had received at least $4,600 from the paper for the records she pulled from the UCLA Medical Center.

At the center for 32 years

Jackson has worked at the center for 32 years, but prosecutors said that she’d only been in the business of record sales for the last few years. The National Enquirer has not been available for comment.

They began to deposit checks in an account belonging to Jackson’s husband in 2006, according to the records presented by prosecution.

Jackson, who was first confronted in 2007, resigned from her administrative position in July of that year, before they could sack her.

UCLA Medical Center releases statement

The UCLA Medical Center released a statement, refusing to comment on the Jackson case but announcing its intentions to continuously cooperate with authorites in their investigation on patient privacy at the center.

The United States Department of Justice chimed in with its own statement, hinting at the position the National Enquirerer might find itself in. “Certainly there is possible culpability at media outlets if we can determine that they were knowingly paying for the illegal access of celebrity files,” said Department spokesman Thom Mrozek.

Their privacy investigation is focused at least in part on the media’s role, he said.

Farrah Fawcett and Britney Spears among known names

There is no knowledge of how many stars have had their privacy breached, but Farrah Fawcett and Britney Spears are among the known names.

One of Fawcett’s lawyers mentioned in April that her cancer diagnosis and treatment details had been suspiciously published in the National Enquirer.