{"id":174001,"date":"2023-05-17T12:52:21","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T16:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=174001"},"modified":"2023-05-17T12:52:21","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T16:52:21","slug":"five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

Five people have pleaded guilty in South Florida to participating in a\u00a0wire fraud scheme\u00a0that created an illegal shortcut for aspiring nurses to get licensed and find employment.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Krystal Lopez and Damian Lopez, both of Palm Beach County, Florida; Francois Legagneur, of Nassau County, New York; Reynoso Seide, of Union County, New Jersey; and Yelva Saint Preux, of Suffolk County, N.Y., pleaded guilty last Wednesday in Miami federal court to wire fraud conspiracy.<\/p>\n

They each face up to 20 years in prison at a July 27 hearing.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

A total of 25 people were charged earlier this year in a scam that sold more than 7,600 fraudulent nursing degree diplomas from three Florida-based nursing schools, according to grand jury indictments.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

The schools involved \u2014 Siena College, Palm Beach School of Nursing and Sacred Heart International Institute \u2014 are now closed.<\/p>\n

During guilty plea hearings, Damian Lopez, Legagneur, Seide and Saint Preux admitted to soliciting and recruiting people who sought nursing credentials that would allow them to work as registered, licensed practical or vocational nurses.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Krystal Lopez admitted that, in her role as the Palm Beach School of Nursing\u2019s finance director, she processed applications for individuals who were issued fraudulent nursing school diplomas and transcripts and that each student paid the school $15,000 for the documents.<\/p>\n

The fake diplomas and transcripts qualified those who purchased them to sit for the national nursing board exam.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

If they passed, they were able to obtain licenses and jobs in various states, prosecutors said.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

AP\/<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five people have pleaded guilty in South Florida to participating in a\u00a0wire fraud scheme\u00a0that created an illegal shortcut for aspiring nurses to get licensed and find employment. Krystal Lopez and Damian Lopez, both of Palm Beach County, Florida; Francois Legagneur, of Nassau County, New York; Reynoso Seide, of Union County, New Jersey; and Yelva Saint […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\nFive plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Five people have pleaded guilty in South Florida to participating in a\u00a0wire fraud scheme\u00a0that created an illegal shortcut for aspiring nurses to get licensed and find employment. Krystal Lopez and Damian Lopez, both of Palm Beach County, Florida; Francois Legagneur, of Nassau County, New York; Reynoso Seide, of Union County, New Jersey; and Yelva Saint […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"316\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/\"},\"wordCount\":255,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:420\/h:316\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Regional\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/\",\"name\":\"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:420\/h:316\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:420\/h:316\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:420\/h:316\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png\",\"width\":\"420\",\"height\":\"316\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida","og_description":"Five people have pleaded guilty in South Florida to participating in a\u00a0wire fraud scheme\u00a0that created an illegal shortcut for aspiring nurses to get licensed and find employment. Krystal Lopez and Damian Lopez, both of Palm Beach County, Florida; Francois Legagneur, of Nassau County, New York; Reynoso Seide, of Union County, New Jersey; and Yelva Saint […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":420,"height":316,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida","datePublished":"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/"},"wordCount":255,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:420\/h:316\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png","articleSection":["Regional"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/","name":"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:420\/h:316\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png","datePublished":"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-17T16:52:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:420\/h:316\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:420\/h:316\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-Guilty.png","width":"420","height":"316"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-plead-guilty-in-fake-nursing-diploma-scheme-in-florida\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Five plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/3094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}