LI Nurses Charged With Forging COVID-19 Vaccine Cards: DA

AMITYVILLE, NY — Two Long Island nurses were arrested and charged Thursday with forging COVID-19 vaccination record cards — and making more than $1.5 million in profits, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Julie DeVuono, 49, the owner and operator of Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville, and her employee, Marissa Urraro, 44, were each charged with one count of forgery in the second degree, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

DeVuono was also charged with an additional count of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, Tierney said.

During a court-authorized search of DeVuono’s home, law enforcement seized about $900,000 in cash, Tierney said. Officials also found a ledger that documented the duo’s total profits of more than $1.5 million, he said. The ledger states that the illegal activity took place from November 2021 to January 2022, Tierney said.

DeVuono, a nurse practitioner, and Urraro, a licensed practical nurse, used their positions to obtain COVID-19 vaccines, along with COVID-19 vaccination cards and medical syringes from the New York State Department of Health, Tierney said.

The duo charged adults $220 and children $85 for each false entry, the DA said.

DeVuono and Urraro gave COVID-19 vaccine cards to undercover detectives multiple times, officials said. The cards indicated that a vaccine was given, but prosecutors said that a vaccine was never administered, the DA’s office said.

Officials also said that DeVuono and Urraro then entered the false information into the New York State Immunization Information System, or NYSIIS, database, Tierney said.

“These individuals allegedly used their positions as licensed healthcare professionals to engage in criminal conduct for their financial benefit,” Tierney said. “I hope this sends a message to others who are considering gaming the system that they will get caught and that we will enforce the law to the fullest extent.”

The Suffolk County Police DA squad, acting with help from federal agents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and investigators from New York State Department of Health, conducted court-authorized searches at Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare, 176B Park Ave. in Amityville, as well as at DuVuono’s Amityville home, Tierney said.

“As nurses, these two individuals should understand the importance of legitimate vaccination cards as we all work together to protect public health,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison.

In December 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the "The Truth in Vaccination" law into practice, making the falsification of COVID-19 vaccination records a crime.

State Sen. Anna Kaplan, who co-authored the law, wrote a letter to New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett in response to the nurses' arrests, urging for preventive action.

"The reports out of Amityville this week are absolutely shocking," wrote Kaplan. "Ensuring the validity of records proving vaccination status is vital to protecting New York families from preventable illness and avoiding an unnecessary protraction of the pandemic."