But, first, the judge wanted to know how John Holliman, 20, was able to fool firefighters.
``I called them and talked to a lieutenant who allowed me to come down and ride along,'' Holliman told Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin on Monday.
Although police seized fake medical credentials from Holliman, he never used them to gain access to ride-alongs, Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Bill Anderson said.
Holliman was convicted on one count each of practicing medicine without a certificate and disrupting public service.
Assistant Fire Chief Bob Kuhn said an investigation determined that Holliman didn't treat any patients.
Kuhn said it's not unusual to have medical students or paramedics in training spend time with ambulance crews.
Kuhn believes Holliman called to see whom he should talk to about doing ride-alongs, then just showed up one day and said that person gave the OK.
``Nobody checked, they just accepted him,'' Kuhn said.
Firefighters eventually grew suspicious of Holliman. A check revealed Holliman wasn't who he said he was and the matter was turned over to police.
Kuhn says the process to ride with paramedics on ambulances has tightened. Now, only paramedics in training and members of the media are allowed to ride.
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