5 plead guilty in fake nursing diploma scheme in Florida

Five people have pleaded guilty in South Florida to participating in a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal shortcut for aspiring nurses to get licensed and find employment. Court records show the group pleaded guilty last week in Miami federal court. They each face up to 20 years in prison at a July 27 hearing. Grand jury indictments show a total of 25 people were charged earlier this year in a scam that sold more than 7,600 fraudulent nursing degree diplomas from three Florida-based nursing schools. The schools involved — Siena College, Palm Beach School of Nursing and Sacred Heart International Institute — are now closed.