LI teacher Laura Parker Russo offered deal in teen COVID shot case

The Herricks teacher who allegedly injected a 17-year-old friend of her son with purported Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine may resolve her felony case with community service as part of a plea that could leave her with no criminal record.

The Nassau District Attorney’s Office extended a plea offer Tuesday to Herricks High School biology teacher Laura Parker Russo, 54, of Sea Cliff — an offer the alleged victim's mother criticized as too lenient.

“I think she should have a criminal record. I don’t think she should work with kids,” the teen's mother, Lisa Doyle, 54, of Glen Cove, said in an exclusive Newsday interview.

Russo is due in court next on June 13. Her attorney, Gerard McCloskey, told Newsday he expected his client to take the plea offer from prosecutors.

“My client has otherwise an unblemished personal and professional record. She’s a woman who has done a tremendous amount of community service throughout her lifetime … and has ultimately been a positive force in her community and I think they took that into consideration,” he added.

Russo pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of unauthorized practice of a profession after her Jan. 1 arrest.

Under the plea offer, she would admit to a misdemeanor charge of attempted unauthorized practice of a profession and a disorderly conduct violation.

If Russo did 50 hours of community service before sentencing, she would be able to withdraw her misdemeanor plea and get a conditional discharge for the violation.

Her non-criminal conviction, which she couldn’t appeal, wouldn’t be sealed and a judge would also sign an order telling Russo not to harass the 17-year-old.

If Russo didn’t finish community service before sentencing, she would get three years of probation for the misdemeanor, according to the offer.

Prosecutors previously said Russo faced a maximum of 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison if convicted of the felony.

Nassau District Attorney’s Office spokesman Brendan Brosh said Tuesday that prosecutors had made the plea offer “based on the defendant’s long-standing ties to the community and her lack of a criminal record.”

But Doyle’s attorney, Karen Johnston, said the district attorney’s office initially had discussed a plea offer of a misdemeanor and probation.

 Johnston said the plea offer that was extended sends a message that “if you want to vaccinate somebody, go ahead and do it … and there will be no repercussions.”

Doyle also said she was “annoyed” with Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly, who she said is “always talking about how she’s going to be hard on crime.”

The 17-year-old’s mother added that Russo would be able to finish her community service in a week and was going to “laugh at the DA’s Office.” 

Doyle said Russo told her the vaccine came from a Sea Cliff pharmacy after Russo asked a pharmacist for a vaccine vial — after a family member got a shot — so she could use it as a Christmas tree ornament.

Doyle said Russo told her there was still vaccine solution in the vial and she refrigerated it before injecting Doyle’s son.

Doyle said Russo also recalled that the pharmacist had told Russo that since it was New Year’s Eve, the pharmacy wasn’t going to use what was left in the vial and would have to discard it anyway.

The 17-year-old got headaches and didn’t feel well after the injection, according to his mother. She said he also suffered mental anguish and embarrassment and ended up changing schools in his final semester of high school.

Law enforcement officials have alleged Russo gave the teenager the injection in her home at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 31. The teenager’s mother called police after he told her about the shot, according to authorities.

 A felony complaint listed evidence in the case as including a “written statement of admission” from Russo and a video of the incident.

Donnelly said in January that authorities found the video on TikTok.

“It was almost treated as if they were doing something funny and it’s not funny when you’re breaking the law, injecting children,” Donnelly said, while encouraging people to “get vaccinated the right way.”

The district attorney also said then that authorities were investigating how and where Russo obtained a vial of purported vaccine.

Russo is a Cornell University graduate with three decades of teaching experience and no criminal record, according to her former attorney. He also said previously that Russo often gives medication to diabetic relatives.

The Herricks Public Schools superintendent said in January that Russo had been “removed from the classroom and reassigned.”

McCloskey said Tuesday that his client’s employment status remains the same.