An Illinois woman was charged Monday with two misdemeanors in Hawaii for allegedly using a fake vaccine card to bypass the state’s coronavirus testing and quarantine requirements.
Chloe Mrozak, 24, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, was arrested Saturday at the Honolulu airport as she attempted to board a flight to the U.S. mainland after a five-day stay in Hawaii.
The state’s Covid regulations require a “mandatory self-quarantine which begins from the day of entry and lasts ten days or the duration of the person’s presence in the state, whichever is shorter,” the charges state.
When state investigators checked Mrozak’s vaccine record, they found her vaccination card contained a misspelling of the vaccine manufacturer Moderna, which was written as “Maderna.”
State investigators couldn’t find Mrozak at her listed hotel after receiving a tip from airport staff that she may have used fake vaccination papers. When they contacted her vaccine location, listed as “Delaware,” they found no record of her receiving any coronavirus vaccine in the state.
According to charges filed Monday in Hawaii, Mrozak now faces two misdemeanors in violation of Gov. David Ige’s Emergency Proclamation — one for allegedly uploading a “falsified document” to the state’s Covid-19 vaccination system and another for allegedly failing to complete her mandatory 10-day self-quarantine after arriving in the state.
Wilson Lau, a special agent with the Hawaii attorney general’s investigation division, was unable to establish contact with Mrozak at a Honolulu hotel, so he searched for her on Facebook, identifying a “distinctive tattoo on her left hip area.”
The hip tattoo is what helped investigators identify her at the airport and arrest Mrozak at the airport as she attempted to leave the state.
James Tabe, a Hawaii public defender whose office is representing Mrozak, did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
In a statement to NBC News, Gary H. Yamashiroya, special assistant to Hawaii’s Attorney General, said his department is “”committed to vigorous enforcement of the Governor’s Emergency Proclamation.”
Yamashiroya said that Mrozak had a court appearance today and is scheduled to appear again via Zoom on Sept. 22.
“Everyone should know that falsified CDC cards are a federal offense and in Hawaii, using falsified proof of testing or vaccination documents for travel into the state is a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year for each count,” Yamashiroya said.
“Our department will prosecute these crimes to the fullest extent provided by the law.”
The Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
