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A woman pleaded guilty this week to selling nearly 3,000 fraudulent nursing diplomas through schools she owned and operated in South Florida.
Carleen Noreus, 52, accepted a plea deal after a two-week trial, during which prosecutors showed jurors dozens of pieces of evidence, including some of the fake diplomas and transcripts given to people who had not completed training to become registered nurses, according to court records reviewed by Fox News Digital.
“Nursing licenses must be obtained through education, training and demonstrated competence, not acquired through fraud,” Jason A. Reding Quiñones, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in a statement.
“By selling thousands of fraudulent diplomas and transcripts, the defendant undermined the integrity of the nursing profession and our health care system,” Quiñones continued. “The Southern District of Florida remains committed to holding accountable those who profit from corrupting professional licensing processes and putting the public at risk.”
WOMAN ACCUSED OF TREATING THOUSANDS OF PATIENTS LIKE A FAKE NURSE
President Donald Trump on Sunday nominated Judge Jason Reding Quiñones to serve as federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida. (Florida Courts)
Noreus, who has been a registered nurse since 2002, sold the fake diplomas from April 2018 to October 2025, prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, the documents he sold allowed these people to sit for national nursing board exams without needing to go to nursing school.
Nearly 2,300 people who earned diplomas or transcripts from Noreus earned licenses by passing board exams and began working as nurses across the country, according to court documents.
The two schools he founded as avenues to sell diplomas were named after him and were later closed by state authorities. She was president of Carleen Home Health School, Inc., in Plantation and vice president of Carleen Home Health School II, Inc., in West Palm Beach.
The now-defunct nursing school in Plantation, Florida, which Carleen Noreus used to sell fraudulent diplomas. (carleenhealthinstitute.org)
MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR HEALTH CARE FRAUD SCHEME INCLUDES GIVING PEOPLE 'UNNECESSARY' SKIN GRAFTS: DOJ
Prosecutors said Noreus collaborated with others in the sweeping, multi-year scheme.
In a statement of fact signed by Noreus on Monday, he said Stanton Witherspoon, who was president of Carleen Home Health School II, paid him to falsify diplomas for entry-level nurses, registered nurses and college-level nurses.
Additionally, Noreus admitted that he backdated transcripts issued to students to make it appear that they had received their degrees before the state canceled their schools.
A stock image of a nurse wearing a blue gown. (Xavier Lorenzo)
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Noreus pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count.
Noreus was one of 13 defendants charged in the second phase of Operation Nightingale, a nationwide investigation to uncover fraudulent nursing diploma mills. The first phase concluded in 2023, with the result that 30 defendants were charged and convicted.
