NY Nurse Who Sold Fake Vaccine Cards Hit With Record $544K Fine

Updated: 7/10/26

The case against Julie DeVuono has fully resolved, and the consequences kept compounding. DeVuono pleaded guilty in September 2023 to money laundering, forgery, and offering a false instrument for filing, and the New York Board of Regents subsequently accepted the surrender of her RN license and pediatric NP certificate. In June 2024, she was sentenced to 840 hours of community service and five years of probation, and forfeited more than $1.2 million in criminal proceeds.

Then came the state’s turn. On July 9, 2026, the New York State Department of Health announced a $544,000 civil penalty against DeVuono, the largest ever imposed for vaccination fraud in the department’s 125-year history. An administrative hearing found she falsely reported administering at least one vaccination to 162 pediatric patients between November 2019 and January 2022. The fraud extended well beyond COVID cards: investigators found falsified records for required childhood immunizations including measles, mumps and rubella, polio, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and chickenpox, per News 12. The fallout landed hardest on families: the state voided immunization records for roughly 135 children, and some students were barred from school until parents obtained legitimate vaccinations.

All told, DeVuono’s financial penalties now exceed $1.7 million, more than the $1.5 million the scheme brought in. The money is forfeited, the licenses are surrendered, and the practice is closed. What remains is a record fine with her name on it. Details on the disciplinary actions are in the updated License Statuses section below.

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Original article: 1/17/23 – Nurses Charged With Selling Fake Vaccine Cards Allegedly Laundered $1.5M and Paid Mortgage

Julie DeVuono, a 49-year-old pediatric Nurse Practitioner in New York City, was arrested in January 2022 on charges of second-degree forgery and offering a false instrument for filing. She is accused of operating a fraudulent vaccine card scheme out of her Long Island-based clinic, Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare, from November 2021 through January 2022. 

According to court documents, she laundered over $1.5 million from the scheme in just over two months. One of DeVuono’s employees, a 44-year-old Licensed Practical Nurse named Marissa Urraro, was also arrested on charges of second-degree forgery for her role in the scam. 

Julie DeVuono (left) and Marissa Urraro. (Photo via Suffolk County PD)

DeVuono received shipments of the Covid-19 vaccine through the New York Department of Health to administer to her patients for free. Instead, DeVuono and Urraro regularly wasted the doses and charged customers for forged vaccine cards that stated they had received the vaccine when they had not. DeVuono and Urraro are also accused of adding false vaccination information to the New York State Immunization Information System database, which is used by the New York Department of Health to track vaccination status.

According to prosecutors, DeVuono charged customers $85 per child and $220 per adult for each of the false vaccine entries. She created a secret code within the electronic health record system to signal to Urraro that patients would be falsely vaccinated. Urraro would then take patients into an examination room and feign giving them the vaccine, accept payment in cash, and distribute the false vaccination cards with DeVuono’s name and license number applied.

The scam was discovered by undercover detectives, who were given vaccination cards at the clinic on multiple occasions without ever having received the vaccine.

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Law enforcement officers seized nearly $900,000 in cash from DeVuono’s home, as well as a written ledger indicating $1.5 million in profits from the scheme. DeVuono’s husband, an NYPD officer, was home at the time of the arrest and was allegedly aware of the existence of the stashed cash. 

(photo via Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office)

Although he was not arrested, Mr. DeVuono was stripped of his gun and badge and removed from active duty following his wife’s arrest. He subsequently filed a petition to be reinstated to active duty, claiming that he was not directly involved in his wife’s vaccination scam. Online records indicate his employment with the NYPD ended in September 2022.

The Attorneys and DA Speak Out

DeVuono’s attorney, Barry Mark Smolowitz, has denied any wrongdoing on behalf of his client. In a brief phone call with The Washington Post, Smolowitz was quoted saying, “Let me just say this — I would implore your readers not to jump to conclusions.” He has otherwise remained markedly silent in the press.

Michael Alber, Urraro’s attorney, released an official statement, saying, “An accusation should not overshadow the good work Ms.Urraro has done for children and adults in the medical field…it is so important that there is no rush to judgment in forming an opinion against a respected LPN. We look forward to highlighting the legal impediments and defects in this investigation.”

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney also released a statement, announcing, “These individuals allegedly used their positions as licensed healthcare professionals to engage in criminal conduct for their financial benefit.” Tierney said he hopes the arrests deter others from attempting to “game the system” and he feels confident that the law will be enforced to its fullest extent.

Both DeVuono and Urraro were released from police custody shortly after their arrest. They have both entered a not-guilty plea and are awaiting trial. 

At the time of original publication in January 2023, both DeVuono and Urraro held active licenses with no enforcement actions listed in the New York license verification database.

That is no longer the case for DeVuono. Following her guilty plea, the New York State Board of Regents granted her application to surrender both her Registered Professional Nurse license and her Nurse Practitioner (Pediatrics) certificate. The disciplinary summary notes she admitted to felony convictions for second-degree money laundering, second-degree forgery, and offering a false instrument for filing. Under New York rules, professionals who surrender a license must wait at least three years to apply for restoration, and restoration is never guaranteed.

Urraro’s final case disposition has not been detailed in state disciplinary records, though case reporting indicates she agreed to cooperate and testify against DeVuono.