GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WLNS) — A woman from Allegan County has been indicted on several federal charges after allegedly posing as a registered nurse to defraud employers.
Mark Totten, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, announced Wednesday that Leticia Gallarzo, 48, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for several charges, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, making false statements in medical records, and production of a false identification document.
Gallarzo faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and two years mandatory imprisonment for aggravated identity theft if convicted. She was previously indicted for similar charges in Texas.
The indictment alleges Gallarzo used the Michigan licensing number and the name of a person licensed as a nurse to obtain employment as a registered nurse at two different locations: a nursing home and a hospice facility.
According to the indictment, she did not possess a valid nursing license or a degree of any kind in nursing, despite claiming she had a master’s degree in nursing from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Davenport University.
The hospice facility discovered Gallarzo’s fingerprints matched other fingerprints that were on record due to her previous state and federal convictions for practicing nursing without a license in Texas in 2015 and 2016. She was then arrested by Michigan State Police.
“As alleged in this case, the defendant recklessly and willingly put the lives of innocent
patients at risk,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan.
