MIAMI — Two nursing school operators in the Fort Lauderdale area have fessed up to peddling fake diplomas to thousands of students who could then avoid completing a rigorous program before taking licensing exams in what prosecutors say was a multimillion-dollar racket stretching from South Florida to New York.
Charles Etienne, 60, president of Sacred Heart International Institute in Fort Lauderdale, and Eunide Sanon, 60, owner of Siena College of Health in Lauderhill, respectively pleaded guilty on Tuesday and last month to a conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in federal court.
Both face up to 20 years in prison but are expected to receive much less time for accepting responsibility early on, according to their lawyers, Tama Kudman and Mark Lowry. As part of their sentencing, Sanon must turn over more than $1 million and Etienne about $200,000 to the U.S. government.
