LI Nurse Sentenced After Forging COVID-19 Vaccine Cards: DA

AMITYVILLE, NY — A former Amityville nurse who filed forged COVID-19 vaccination record cards was sentenced to six months in jail and five years of probation with alcohol and narcotic conditions on Tuesday, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.

Julie DeVuono, 51, of Amityville, was sentenced after pleading guilty in September, 2023 to filing forged COVID-19 vaccination record Ccrds, laundering the criminal proceeds of the sales of the forged cards and filing false prescriptions for opioids for people who were not her patients, the DA said.

According to evidence established at trial, from June 15, 2021, to January 27, 2022, DeVuono sold forged COVID-19 vaccination record cards, which stated that patients had received a COVID-19 vaccination. DeVuono then entered the false information into the New York State Immunization Information System, the DA said.

DeVuono charged each adult customer $220 for false entry on the COVID-19 vaccine card and a false entry into NYSIIS in 2021, the DA said. In 2022, she charged $350 for a false entry on the COVID-19 vaccine card and a false entry into NYSIIS, the DA said.

According to the DA, DeVuono then laundered the proceeds from the criminal conduct by transferring funds through several accounts and conducting several transactions, including paying off the mortgage on her home in Amityville.

A subsequent investigation by the DA uncovered a separate scheme by DeVuono, the DA said. From February 2019 to August 2021, she submitted false prescriptions for oxycodone to local pharmacies in Suffolk County for individuals who were not her actual patients and some of whom were her relatives, the DA said.

On September 15, 2023, DeVuono and her corporation, Kids-On-Call Pediatric Nurse
Practitioner, P.C., pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins. DeVuono
pleaded guilty to second-degree money laundering, a Class C felony, second-degree forgery, a Class D felony, and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, a Class E felony, the DA said.

Meanwhile, Kids-On-Call Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, P.C. pleaded guilty to second-degree money laundering, a Class C felony, and second-degree forgery, a Class D felony, the DA said.

DeVuono and the corporation have agreed to forfeit criminal proceeds totaling $1,252,540, the DA said. The proceeds include United States currency and bank account funds previously seized, along with equity that DeVuono paid off on her Amityville home, the DA said.

She also surrendered her professional licenses as a nurse practitioner and a registered professional nurse to the New York State Department of Education and is no longer permitted to practice in the medical field in New York State, the DA said.

In addition, DeVuono surrendered her certificate of incorporation as a professional service
corporation in New York State, Tierney said. The judge also ordered her to immediately shut down her office, Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare, the DA said.

Instead of the six months of jail, DeVuono may complete 840 community service hours that must be completed during her probationary supervision term of five years, the DA said. She will also pay $15,000 in fines, he added. Kids-On-Call Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, P.C. was sentenced to three-year conditional discharges and a total of $510,000 in fines, the DA said.

"This defendant abused her power as a nurse by submitting forged COVID-19 vaccination records and fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone to state-wide databases," said Tierney. "As part of her plea, my office required that the defendant surrender her nursing licenses and forfeit over $1.2 million in profits from her criminal enterprise."

DeVuono was represented by attorneys Jason Russo and Steven Gaitman, who did not immediately return calls for comment.