GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WLNS) — A woman from Allegan County has been indicted on several federal charges after allegedly posing as a registered nurse to defraud employers.

Leticia Gallarzo, 48, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for several charges, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, making false statements in medical records, and production of a false identification document, a Wednesday release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. She faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and two years mandatory imprisonment for aggravated identity theft if convicted.

She was previously indicted for similar charges in Texas.

The indictment alleges Gallarzo used the Michigan licensing number and the name of a person licensed as a nurse so she could get a job as a registered nurse at a nursing home and at a Grand Rapids hospice facility.

According to the indictment, she did not have a valid nursing license or a degree of any kind in nursing, despite claiming she had a master’s degree in nursing from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Davenport University.

“As alleged in this case, the defendant recklessly and willingly put the lives of innocent
patients at risk,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson said in a statement.

The hospice facility discovered Gallarzo’s fingerprints matched others that were on record because of her previous state and federal convictions for practicing nursing without a license in Texas in 2015 and 2016. She was arrested.