MONROVIA – Mr. Stanton Witherspoon, the CEO of Spoon Network, has been sentenced to 41 months in prison beginning January 31, 2024 mid-day for wire fraud. He is also forfeiting four properties and has also been fined US$3.5 million.
By Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
According to the United States Department of Justice, Witherspoon, a resident of Burlington County, New Jersey pled guilty on August 24, 2023, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud (Case No. 23-60005-Cr-Smith).
FrontPageAfrica gathered the Southern District Court in Florida tampered justice with mercy because Witherspoon has been cooperative with investigators and he is expected to provide more information on the scheme that may lead to the arrest of more conspirators.
The United States has already identified four properties in New Jersey belonging to Witherspoon that he is likely to forfeit.
However, at the court on Thursday, his lawyers presented a cheque of US$3.5 million as restitution of the dividends earned through the fraudulent scheme.
The Spoon Network CEO and host of the famous SPOON Talk in Liberia is among 20 others who have either pleaded guilty or have been convicted for their participation in
The wire fraud scheme, known as Operation Nightingale, that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses.
According to public records, residents of Florida, along with individuals from other states, were charged for their involvement in a scheme to sell fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts obtained from accredited Florida-based nursing schools to individuals seeking licenses and jobs as registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPN/VNs).
The bogus diplomas and transcripts qualified purchasers to sit for the national nursing board exam and, after passing it, to obtain licenses and jobs in various states as RNs and LPN/VNs. The overall scheme involved the distribution of more than 7,600 fake nursing diplomas issued by three South Florida-based nursing schools: Siena College in Broward County, Florida (Fla.), Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County, Fla., and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County. These schools are now closed. Nursing applicants used the fraudulent diplomas to obtain RN or LPN/VN licenses in various states and nursing jobs with unwitting health care providers throughout the country.
