SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — The orchestrator of a scheme that manufactured, sold, and distributed 120,000 counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination record cards was sentenced on Thursday, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Nicholas Frank Sciotto, 34, of Salt Lake City, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, three years supervised release, and a $40,000 fine. Sciotto reportedly admitted in July 2024 that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention by selling and distributing counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards.
Sciotto made over $400,000 in profits in the scheme, according to the DOJ.
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Between Mar. 2021 and Sept. 2021, Sciotto operated in the nationwide scheme, which involved selling counterfeit vaccination cards wholesale to “several coconspirators,” the release states. One of these coconspirators has been identified as Kyle Blake Burbage, 33, of Goose Creek, South Carolina.