An upstate New York midwife pleaded guilty Monday to federal fraud charges for her role in passing out thousands of COVID-19 vaccination cards to people who never received the shot, prosecutors said.

Kathleen Breault, 66, of Cambridge, admitted in Brooklyn federal court that she destroyed more than 2,600 coronavirus vaccines and issued the same number of fraudulent vaccination record cards while working at Sage-Femme Midwifery from 2021 to 2022.

The Albany facility was an authorized site for COVID-19 vaccine administration at a time when many government agencies and private companies were mandating that their employees be vaccinated against the virus.

The office of U.S. Attorney Bryon Peace for the Eastern District of New York said Breault and his co-conspirators made more than 2,600 false entries into a state database tracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

According to prosecutors, those who were issued fraudulent vaccination records included minors who were not eligible for vaccination at the time, as well as Canadian citizens who were not present in the country when the vaccinations were allegedly administered.

Breault has agreed to repay more than $37,000 (roughly Rs. 30.90 lakhs) for the destroyed vaccines and faces a maximum of five years in prison when he is sentenced, the Justice Department’s office said.

Breault’s lawyer said Monday that his client acted out of a “sense of deep concern” about the impact of vaccination requirements.

“He believes his actions were justified by moral necessity, although he recognizes he violated the law by defrauding the government,” Michael Sussmann said in an emailed statement.