A Miami Herald article quotes federal investigators as saying that more criminal charges are coming in the nationwide nursing school credentials scandal. Federal officials have already charged more than two dozen Florida nursing school officials for allegedly selling fake credentials to thousands of nurses across the country, many of whom are now licensed and practicing. Several of those defendant officials have already pled guilty to the charges. And now, more charges may be coming.

Don't let the risk of federal criminal charges undermine your confidence, career, and credentials. Instead, retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team and national license defense attorney Joseph D. Lento to help you document the authenticity of your nursing credentials in defense of licensing proceedings, employment termination, and criminal charges. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now.

Nursing School Criminal Charges to Date

To this point, federal investigators have sought charges only against a couple of dozen school officials at the now-closed Florida nursing schools implicated in the scandal. Federal investigators have not publicly revealed charges against any of the thousands of allegedly involved nurses, even though some of the criminal defendant school officials have given those investigators the names of nurses allegedly buying fake credentials. The criminal charges against the school officials are serious, punishable with up to twenty years in prison. Several of the school officials have pled guilty to the charges, presumably hoping to receive a lighter sentence for accepting responsibility and turning over names of others allegedly involved, including nursing students.

Criminal Allegations Reach Nursing Students

Federal officials may not yet have charged the nurses and nursing students named in the scandal. But nurses and nursing students could be among those whom federal officials plan to charge, when they say that more charges are coming. Indeed, the criminal complaints in the several cases against the nursing school officials allege not only that the school officials committed federal wire fraud but also that nurses who knowingly bought fake credentials and used those credentials to sit for the NCLEX, get state licenses, and obtain nursing employment committed federal crimes. The criminal complaints do not name any of those nurses as criminal defendants. The individual complaints in those cases instead identify those nurses only as unnamed co-conspirators in language like the following:

“Co-conspirator 5 obtained a diploma and transcript issued by Siena College purporting to show that he/she attended Siena College and completed the necessary courses and/or clinicals to obtain an Associate Degree in Nursing diploma.”

Prepare to Defend Your Nursing Credentials

If you hold credentials from the implicated nursing schools, or if your educational profile is similar to those immigrant nurses and nursing students attending online programs whom the scandal has implicated, then prepare to defend your credentials. Don't sit back and wait for bad things to happen. Retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team and national license defense attorney Joseph D. Lento to help you get the documentation and testimony necessary to defend your nursing credentials. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now. Don't lose sleep over potential coming criminal charges. Take action now.