MONROVIA, LIBERIA – Stanton A. Witherspoon, the owner and Chief Executive Officer of the pro-Joseph Boskai-run Spoon Media Network in Monrovia, is set to surrender himself to prison authorities in the US to begin serving his term for fraud and other criminal offenses against the United States.
According to court documents, Stanton will go to jail on April 29, 2024. He had been sentenced to 41 months in prison for wire fraud, starting from January 31, 2024. In addition to the prison sentence, Stanton is also forfeiting four properties and fined US$3.5 million.
Recently, the US Southern Florida Court granted Stanton Witherspoon’s request to extend his surrender date by 90 days. The United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, accepted his motion, allowing him to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons in the US no later than 12:00 PM on April 29, 2024, for sentencing. This decision was reached on January 16, 2024.
Stanton Witherspoon’s involvement in the US Court began on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, when the US Attorney’s office in Florida’s Southern District Court found him and 24 others guilty of wire fraud related to a fraudulent nursing diploma scheme. The penalty for this crime amounts to 20 years imprisonment according to Florida State law. However, the court lowered Stanton’s sentencing to 41 months. He pleaded guilty to the charge on August 24, 2023 and was scheduled to be sentenced on November 2, 2023.
The fraudulent scheme involved the distribution of over 7,600 fake nursing diplomas issued by three South Florida-based nursing schools. These diplomas allowed the purchasers to sit for the national nursing board exam and obtain licenses and jobs as RNs and LPNs/VNs in various states. This scheme not only raised public safety concerns but also tarnished the reputation of legitimate nurses who have completed the necessary coursework to obtain their licenses.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, stated that “a fraud scheme like this erodes public trust in our health care system.” Following the court’s ruling, Stanton Witherspoon filed a motion for miscellaneous relief, which was granted by Judge Malissa Damian on January 12, 2023.
