A former Northern Westchester Hospital surgical technician and Peekskill resident has pleaded guilty in Colorado to knowingly using Hepatitis C infected needles on patients in Colorado.

 27 year old Kristen Diane Parker was arrested in Denver last summer and admitted stealing and using syringes filled with pain medication and reused the syringes on unsuspecting patients. Officials say thousands of patients could have been exposed to the Hepatitis C virus in both New York and Colorado.

In July, Northern Westchester Hospital sent out letters to nearly 3,000 patients alerting them to the situation and offering them free testing. According to officials, Parker, an admitted drug addict, would inject herelf with the powerful painkiller fenanyl and re-fill the syringes in the operating room. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne illness that affects the liver. It can cause liver failure and has been implicated in liver cancer.

In January, U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn rejected the plea agreement because prosecutors recommended a 20-year prison sentence. Blackburn can now sentence Parker to up to 30 years in jail.  Sentencing is scheduled for February 24th.