{"id":4447,"date":"2026-06-17T11:03:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T11:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447"},"modified":"2026-06-17T11:03:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T11:03:58","slug":"former-florida-nursing-school-operator-pleads-guilty-to-selling-diplomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447","title":{"rendered":"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

The owner of a former South Florida nursing school, accused of selling fake diplomas to students who then used the credentials to become licensed nurses, pleaded guilty this week to some of the federal charges lodged against her.<\/p>\n

Read more Class of 2026: Seminole County\u2019s valedictorians & salutatorians<\/a><\/p>\n

Carleen Noreus, the former owner of Carleen Health Institute, reached the deal with prosecutors two weeks into her trial in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. In the plea agreement, she admitted to falsifying transcripts and diplomas, giving nurses a way to get licensed and employed though they hadn\u2019t received proper training.<\/p>\n

The school was among roughly two dozen former nursing programs that sold fake degrees to more than 7,000 people over the past several years, uncovered in an FBI probe dubbed Operation Nightingale.<\/p>\n

Noreus was one of the few operators charged in the scheme not to plead not guilty before going to trial and faced one of the most damning accusations \u2014 that a nurse with a fraudulent Carleen diploma had been implicated in a patient\u2019s death in a St. Louis hospital.<\/p>\n

Noreus pleaded guilty on Monday, after the state\u2019s witnesses, including several people who had obtained Carleen diplomas, had taken the stand. Noreus pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She had been indicted on several other charges, including five counts of wire fraud. Those charges have been dropped.<\/p>\n

Attorney Andrew Feldman, who represented Noreus during the trial, wrote in an email on Tuesday he didn\u2019t want to comment on the outcome of the case. Noreus, a 52-year-old from Plantation, is to be sentenced in September and faces up to 40 years in prison.<\/p>\n

Carleen Health Institute once had campuses in Plantation and West Palm Beach, both operating with approval from Florida\u2019s nursing board. Carleen had agreements with two hospitals and a rehabilitation center in The Bahamas where students could do clinical training, according to documents it submitted to the nursing board in 2013.<\/p>\n

Carleen graduates, however, struggled on the required National Council Licensure Exam, or NCLEX, and the state nursing board voted in February 2020 to close its registered nursing programs because of those low scores. The Commission for Independent Education, a division of the Florida Department of Education that oversees unaccredited colleges like Carleen, voted to close the entire school, which also offered other programs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But Carleen continued to issue diplomas to potential nurses for some time afterward, with more than 200 people whose transcripts said they graduated in 2021 and 2022 taking and passing the NCLEX, according to data posted to the nursing board\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people who obtained diplomas from Carleen and other schools implicated in the Operation Nightingale scheme used those credentials to obtain licenses that allowed them to work in Florida and elsewhere, the Orlando Sentinel reported in May.<\/p>\n

Noreus admitted to falsifying transcripts and diplomas saying students had attended classes, completed clinical training and graduated from the school when in fact those students did not earn credits or receive grades from either of the two campuses. She also said she backdated the transcripts issued to students to make it appear the students had attended when Carleen was still authorized by the Commission for Independent Education to hold classes, according to a document she signed on Monday.<\/p>\n

Read more 30 years after Lake County school murder, killer released from prison<\/a><\/p>\n

Tahira Bastien, who had a Carleen \u201cdiploma,\u201d received a Florida nursing license in 2021 and was working in a St. Louis hospital for only a few weeks in June 2023 when she was accused of making a series of mistakes that ended in a patient\u2019s death. Bastien was listed in court documents as a potential witness in the prosecution\u2019s case against Noreus, but did not testify.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The document Noreus signed on Monday says Bastien had earned some credits at another school implicated in the Operation Nightingale scandal, but she had obtained a transcript falsely saying she completed classes at Carleen. Noreus backdated her transcript to indicate she graduated at a time when the school was still authorized to operate, allowing her to obtain employment with a staffing agency that had a contract with the Missouri hospital.<\/p>\n

Bastien is still licensed to work in Florida, the Sentinel reported in May, though the Board of Nursing is aware of the Missouri incident.<\/p>\n

The Florida Department of Health said it started investigating Bastien in 2023, after Missouri barred her from working as a nurse there, and filed a complaint against her in 2024, recommending sanctions as severe as permanently revoking her license. But the case has dragged on.<\/p>\n

The complaint against Bastien cited a cease-and-desist letter issued to her in Missouri preventing her from working in that state and urged the Florida Board of Nursing, which issued her license, to take action. About a year later, Bastien told the state she wanted to fight the allegations and asked for a hearing before an administrative judge.<\/p>\n

The Sentinel reported last month that Bastien\u2019s case was assigned to an administrative law judge on May 8. That happened hours after the paper published a story citing Bastien among a number of examples of still-licensed nurses with degrees from Carleen and other now-shuttered Florida schools the FBI said sold diplomas.<\/p>\n

But her case with the Division of Administrative Hearing\u2019s website has since been closed, according to that agency\u2019s website, because she is no longer disputing the allegations against her. The department of health\u2019s complaint against her is still active, an unnamed agency spokesperson wrote in an email.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department continues to move toward a resolution on this matter,\u201d the spokesperson wrote.<\/p>\n

Bastien\u2019s license expires on July 31, according to the health department\u2019s licensing database.<\/p>\n

Read more Smoke + Fire for Juneteenth; Sip + Savor at The Lucky Goat<\/a><\/p>\n

anmartin@orlandosentinel.com<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The owner of a former South Florida nursing school pleaded guilty this week to selling fake diplomas, including one to a nurse later implicated in a Missouri patient’s death..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas - Orlando Relocation Report<\/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:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The owner of a former South Florida nursing school pleaded guilty this week to selling fake diplomas, including one to a nurse later implicated in a Missouri patient's death..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T11:03:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"headline\":\"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T11:03:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447\"},\"wordCount\":974,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/93085638793f7e3e951e6f04668093ba.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Education\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447\",\"name\":\"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas - Orlando Relocation Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/93085638793f7e3e951e6f04668093ba.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T11:03:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/93085638793f7e3e951e6f04668093ba.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/93085638793f7e3e951e6f04668093ba.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4447#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Orlando Relocation Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas - Orlando Relocation Report","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:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas - Orlando Relocation Report","og_description":"The owner of a former South Florida nursing school pleaded guilty this week to selling fake diplomas, including one to a nurse later implicated in a Missouri patient's death..","og_url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447","og_site_name":"Orlando Relocation Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-17T11:03:58+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"headline":"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas","datePublished":"2026-06-17T11:03:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447"},"wordCount":974,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/93085638793f7e3e951e6f04668093ba.webp","articleSection":["Education","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447","name":"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas - Orlando Relocation Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/93085638793f7e3e951e6f04668093ba.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-17T11:03:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/93085638793f7e3e951e6f04668093ba.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/93085638793f7e3e951e6f04668093ba.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4447#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/","name":"Orlando Relocation Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}