Albany, NY (WRGB) -- An Albany midwife convicted of distributing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards died Monday morning. Sage-Femme Midwifery, a company she founded, shared the news on Facebook.
The Facebook post says Kelly McDermott died of an unspecified illness.
"Kelly, Founder and Director of Sage-Femme Midwifery, was called to midwifery as a ministry and vocation by the birth of her first child at home in 1984. Like many midwives, her relationship with birth has been long and varied. She has been privileged to serve as a direct-entry midwife, a Certified Professional Midwife, a labor and delivery nurse, and is a Masters prepared Certified Nurse Midwife. All six of her children were born at home. Her return to home birth is a celebration and a rekindling of her commitment to women and birth," reads McDermott's about page on the Sage-Femme website.
In 2023, federal prosecutors charged McDermott, then 61, for conspiracy to register the business as a vaccination clinic. The indictment says she gave fake vaccination cards to unvaccinated individuals, including minors who were not eligible for the COVID-19 shot, and non-citizens who were not in the country at the time shots were documented. A nurse midwife and another licensed practical nurse at Sage-Femme were also charged.
READ MORE:Albany midwives, nurse accused of distributing forged COVID vaccination cards
The U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said the fraud turned Sage-Femme Midwifery "into one of the busiest vaccination sites in New York State, outpacing large, state-run vaccination sites."
McDermott was sentenced in January to four years probation, ordered to pay more than $39,000 in restitution and fines. The other two defendants pleaded guilty to charges.