8 Fla. nurses sentenced for Medicare fraud

MIAMI – Eight South Florida nurses and a patietnt have been sentenced for their role in a $18.7 million Medicare fraud scam.

Prosecutors say the nurses forged files to make it seem like patients needed home health care services they didn't require or never received. The nurses received sentences Friday ranging from 5 months to 30 years.

They were indicted in July, along with Dr. Jorge Dieppa.

Some of the nurses also helped recruit patients. One of the patients, 76-year-old Alfredo Zayas, was sentenced to two years probation. She says she accepted money for allowing her Medicare number to be used for bogus treatments.

Dieppa is awaiting trial.