A Broward County nursing school owner was sentenced to 87 months in prison by a Fort Lauderdale federal judge on Tuesday for her role in a scheme to sell bogus diplomas and transcripts to would-be nurses who sought credentials and jobs around the United States.<\/p>\n
At the end of two weeks of trial in June, Carleen Noreus, 52, of Plantation, pleaded guilty<\/a> \u00a0to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.<\/p>\n Dressed in business attire while sitting at the defense table with her lawyer, Andrew Feldman, on Tuesday, Noreus read from a statement that was filled with sorrow and regret.<\/p>\n \u201cI think about moments when I could have stopped, questioned what was happening or simply walked away,\u201d Noreus told U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal. \u201cI cannot change those moments now but I can fully accept responsibility for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Singhal sentenced her to seven years and three months, to be followed by two years of supervised release. The government had sought a range of 188 to 235 months.<\/p>\n \u201cShe started out with a legitimate school \u2026 a time where Ms. Noreus wanted to properly help people,\u201d the judge said, \u201cand then at some point \u2014 I don\u2019t why \u2014 at some point turned to greed over helping people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMs. Noreus, I think that you\u2019ve done good things in your life and I don\u2019t know why it went south for you,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n Noreus, according to the government, is the 50th and nearly last defendant to be sentenced after a series of federal investigations into nursing school diploma fraud across the country that spanned several years.<\/p>\n In sentencing memorandums filed with the court, Miami defense attorney Feldman had asked the judge to sentence his client to five years.<\/p>\n \u201cCarleen Noreus stands before this court ready to accept whatever punishment the court deems appropriate,\u201d Feldman wrote in a sentencing memorandum on his client\u2019s behalf. \u201cCarleen has accepted responsibility and is remorseful for her actions.\u201d<\/p>\n The government is seeking in the neighborhood of $10 million in a forfeiture payment; Noreus says the figure is about $3.5 million and is prepared to turn over $4 million, according to court filings. The final amount will be determined at a forfeiture hearing in late October.<\/p>\n Relatives and other supporters sent 11 letters to the court requesting leniency. Most of them, including letters from her two daughters and from her husband of 20 years, Ilfride Noreus, spoke of a woman who is devoted to her family members, including support for a disabled grandson who she helps care for multiple times a week.<\/p>\n But the government sought a 20-year sentence. In court filings, federal prosecutors rejected a defense argument that Noreus should receive a reduction because others snared in the government\u2019s sweeping investigation of for-profit nursing schools received less time in prison.<\/p>\n \u201cHere it is evident that Noreus\u2019 co-conspirator and other similarly situated defendants who received less severe sentences because of their guilty pleas and cooperation are not similarly situated,\u201d a prosecution team led by Senior Litigation Counsel Christopher J.\u00a0 Clark wrote in a response to the defense bid for a reduced sentence. \u201cBecause the defendant occupied a managerial role in the offense, failed to accept responsibility for her criminal conduct until after two weeks of trial, and did not provide the government substantial assistance, there is no \u2018unwarranted\u2019 disparity between defendant and her accomplices\u2019 sentences.\u201d<\/p>\n Students warned Florida about \u2018fishy\u2019 nursing school, records show<\/a><\/p>\n Noreus served as president of Carleen Home Health School, Inc. in Plantation and vice president of Carleen Home Health School II, Inc. in West Palm Beach, the government said. She became a registered nurse in 2002.<\/p>\n Along with others, she was accused of conspiring to sell fraudulent nursing diplomas and course transcripts<\/a> to people who had not completed the required coursework or clinical training to earn credentials as Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurse\/Vocational Nurses (LPN\/VN), or Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees.<\/p>\n The phony diplomas and school records \u201cfalsely represented that purchasers had successfully completed the academic and clinical requirements of the schools when, in reality, they had not,\u201d the government said in a June 18 statement following Noreus\u2019 guilty plea.<\/p>\n But the paperwork \u201cenabled purchasers to sit for the national nursing board examinations and, after passing those examinations, obtain nursing licenses and employment in the healthcare field.\u201d<\/p>\n Evidence at trial showed Noreus operated between April 17, 2018, and Oct. 8, 2025, and provided 2,956 fraudulent nursing diplomas, the government said.<\/p>\n Florida regulators have since terminated the schools Noreus operated, according to the government.<\/p>\n Of the individuals who obtained fraudulent credentials<\/a> from the school, approximately 2,274 passed nursing board examinations, allowing them to obtain nursing licenses and work as nurses in Florida and across the country.<\/p>\n \u201cNursing licenses must be earned through education, training, and demonstrated competence, not purchased through fraud,\u201d U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Qui\u00f1ones for the Southern District of Florida said in the government\u2019s June statement. \u201cBy selling thousands of fraudulent diplomas and transcripts, the defendant undermined the integrity of the nursing profession and our healthcare system.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOperation Nightingale\u201d<\/p>\n The government said the case is part of a second phase of \u201cOperation Nightingale,\u201d a national effort targeting fraudulent nursing diploma schemes<\/a> operated by for-profit nursing schools in South Florida.<\/p>\n