A former sleep technician who secretly recorded patients inside bathrooms at a Nassau County sleep center for months was sentenced Thursday to jail and probation.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced that Sanjai Syamaprasad, 48, of Brooklyn, received six months in jail and five years of probation after pleading guilty in July to installing hidden cameras inside patient and staff bathrooms at the Northwell Health Sleep Disorders Center in Great Neck. He also admitted to destroying evidence once the misconduct came to light.
Syamaprasad pleaded guilty to five counts of Unlawful Surveillance in the Second Degree and two counts of Tampering with Physical Evidence, all E felonies. Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 7 to 21 years in prison, based on consecutive terms for each count. The court imposed a substantially lighter sentence.
“Sanjai Syamaprasad is a creep, and for his truly nauseating behavior and violation of patients’ privacy rights, he deserved far more time behind bars,” Donnelly said in a statement. “Night after night this purported medical professional preyed on innocent patients through a spy camera lens, taking sick pleasure in exposing them… Now, he will learn what it feels like to be watched.”
According to investigators, between July 2023 and April 2024, Syamaprasad attached hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors inside multiple bathrooms at the sleep center, as well as in a public restroom at STARS Rehabilitation, located in the same building. The devices were mounted with Velcro and removed after each shift so he could download footage to an SD card.
The cameras recorded thousands of individuals, including at least one child. Five victims were identified from recovered images.
Northwell Health notified prosecutors in April 2024. Investigators executed a search warrant at Syamaprasad’s Brooklyn home, recovering multiple electronic devices. They later learned that he had attempted to destroy evidence, discarding a camera and a broken SD card in a CVS trash can. A Nassau County Police detective ultimately recovered the camera from a nearby dumpster.
Syamaprasad was arrested later that month.
The case was prosecuted by the DA’s Pharmaceutical Diversion and Cybercrimes Unit with assistance from Northwell Health and the Nassau County Police Department.
