SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A former nurse who is in a California prison for her role in a patient’s death will soon be eligible to be released from custody.
Last September, a San Diego judge sentenced Heather Lang Vass to two years of prison time. But Team 10 has confirmed Vass is eligible to be released to community supervision on June 1st.
If she is released that day, Vass would have spent a total of eight months and 12 days behind bars.
“It's painfully inappropriate. That's the bottom line,” said David Gorcey, the father of Megan Espinoza.
Megan died after going in for an operation in 2018 at Divino Plastic Surgery in Bonita.
Vass, a registered nurse who had no formal training in anesthesia, overdosed Megan when she gave her a cocktail of drugs including fentanyl, ketamine and Percocet.
The former nurse admitted she broke the law 100 different times when she performed anesthesia at the plastic surgery center, something she knew was outside the scope of her license.
“As a mom now, I cannot imagine the pain my child and husband would feel to go through a Christmas without me,” Vass said at her sentencing last September when she apologized for overdosing Megan.
Instead of calling 911 for her help, Vass and the doctor she worked for, Carlos Chacon, left Megan pulseless on the operating room table for hours, according to court testimony.
Superior Court Judge Maryann D'Addezio said Vass took advantage of the trust patients put in her.
She noted Vass, who had a prior felony for DUI, overdosed another patient six months before Megan and blamed the client instead of taking responsibility or stopping her illegal conduct.
“Her attitude, her mindset, it’s very least disrespectful, it’s dismissive and it’s so dehumanizing,” D'Addezio said.
The judge said in her opinion Vass, who previously was on felony probation for the DUI, “hadn’t learned anything” and sentenced her to two years of prison time.
Rehabilitative programming credits
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed Vass is eligible for release in June but declined to give any other details.
“Incarcerated persons may earn credits for participating in rehabilitative programming,” said Emily Humpal, a spokesperson for the department.
Humpal said Vass will be under the supervision of the county she is released to once she’s no longer in prison and claimed the former nurse was not being let out early.
“People who successfully earn credits are not released early – they have served their sentence as defined by law,” she said.
'I feel kind of rage'
Megan’s mother Judith Gorcey doesn’t feel justice has been served and thought Vass would be behind bars for the majority of her sentence.
“I feel kind of rage that this would be allowed to happen,” she said.
The San Diego County District Attorney's Office sympathized with the Gorceys in a statement Thursday.
"This was a complex case in which a specialized team of DA prosecutors worked to obtain justice for the victim’s family. The focus was on the primary culprit, former Dr. Chacon, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and received a three-year prison sentence, which is the one that would be served at 85%," said Tanya Sierra, a spokesperson for the DA.
The DA's office noted Vass cooperated with the investigation and was held accountable for her role when she pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter early on.
Sierra said Vass will be "strictly supervised" by the probation department once she leaves custody.
"We hope this case sends a clear message that doctors must conduct themselves with the care required when dealing with human life," she said.
Judith said she is concerned once Vass is released from prison, she will start working at a surgical center again.
“I fear that they believe that she's not dangerous to the community. Our daughter was part of the community. She was dangerous to her,” said Judith.
While Vass no longer holds a valid nursing license, she can eventually petition the Board of Registered Nursing to have it reinstated.
A Team 10 investigation last year revealed the former nurse, who was out on bail awaiting sentencing for Megan’s death, was able to get a job at the San Diego Outpatient Surgical Center.
Vass shielded her face from our camera as she left work 10 days before her sentencing hearing, where she was taken away in handcuffs.
The surgical center said it hired Vass as a “quality assurance coordinator.”
But staffers told Team 10 the former nurse, who no longer had a license, was hired to be a supervisor at the facility and oversaw nursing staff and other employees.
The California Board of Registered Nursing launched an investigation after Team 10’s investigation aired.
Vass did not return a letter from Team 10 requesting comment on this story.
