Woman accused in teeth-whitening scheme pleads guilty to computer tampering at former Bull Valley employer

A former Bull Valley dentist office employee pleaded guilty Wednesday to accessing data from a computer after she no longer worked there.

Lizbeth Sanchez, 34, of Round Lake, pleaded guilty to computer tampering and accessing data, a Class B misdemeanor. She was sentenced to one year of supervision, 30 hours of public service, $400 in restitution and $614 in fines and fees, according to documents filed in McHenry County court by Judge Tiffany Davis.

Sanchez initially was accused of performing “prescription-grade teeth-whitening” at a different location without a medical license. For these allegations, she had been charged with two counts of practicing medicine without a license, Class 4 felonies, but those charges were dismissed, records show.

Sanchez also initially had been charged with three counts of computer tampering, Class 4 felonies, and a misdemeanor count of computer tampering, according to court records. Had she been convicted of the felony charges, she could have faced up to three years in prison.

McHenry police alleged that between Feb. 1, 2017, and Jan. 9, 2024, Sanchez added and then used a desktop software program on a work computer that she could access remotely, which she was not authorized to do, according to the complaint.

Police said Sanchez used the program remotely and changed “employment records in an effort to conceal the various times she remotely accessed the computer system in an unauthorized manner,” according to the complaint.

She also allegedly accessed her “family’s customer account, making accounting adjustments to reduce” by $400 money owed to the dentist’s office and “order unauthorized medical supplies,” according to the complaint.

Police also accused Sanchez of performing “prescription-grade teeth-whitening services while not under direct supervision or direction of a licensed medical professional,” according to the complaint. This was alleged to have occurred between Dec. 29, 2022, and Jan. 9, 2024, police said.

Sanchez’s attorney, David Franks, said he and his client “are very pleased with the result we achieved in court today. The state’s attorney’s office considered her background and reevaluated the case, and provided a very reasonable negotiated plea to resolve the matter.”

Because Sanchez pleaded to a low-level misdemeanor and was sentenced to supervision, the case potentially could be expunged from her record.