Five defendants charged in the Southern District of Florida have pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy after their alleged involvement in a nurse diploma scheme.
The five individuals, Krystal Lopez, Damian Lopez, Francois Legagneur, Reynoso Seide and Yelva Saint Preux, will be sentenced by a district judge in federal court on July 27. They could each face up to 20 years in federal prison, according to a May 15 U.S. Attorney's Office news release.
During their guilty plea hearings, Mr. Lopez, Mr. Legagneur, Mr. Seide and Ms. Saint Preux admitted to soliciting and recruiting people who sought nursing credentials and to working with Palm Beach School of Nursing to create and distribute fraudulent diplomas and transcripts.
Ms. Lopez admitted that she processed applications for individuals in her role as the school's finance director and that each student paid the school $15,000 for the documents.
All defendants profited from the scam, according to the release. These are five of the dozens of defendants charged for their participation in the scheme.
Some nurses who attended the school say they're losing job opportunities even though they didn't participate in the scheme.