In August 2022, a nursing home in western Michigan hired a registered nurse it found through Indeed. She had a nursing license, a diploma and identification documents, all under the name of a real Michigan nurse. She assessed patients, gave medications, started IV lines and was promoted to unit manager, supervising other healthcare workers.
She was not a nurse. According to the Justice Department, Leticia Gallarzo had forged the license, the diploma and the IDs. It was the third time she had been convicted of posing as a nurse.
Her real record was there all along. It just wasn't under the name on her application.
How it happened
Gallarzo had already been convicted twice for the same conduct: in 2016 by the Kent County Prosecutor's Office, and in 2017 in federal court in the Southern District of Texas. Those records were under her own name. At the nursing home, she used someone else's.
She worked there from August 2022 to May 2023. The facility demoted her as her performance faltered, and she started looking for another nursing job. Her next prospective employer uncovered her real identity and reported her. She pleaded guilty in October 2023, then fled while awaiting sentencing and again found work as a nurse and a physician assistant in Illinois and California. She was arrested near Los Angeles.
In January 2026, she was sentenced to 75 months in prison. Prosecutors said the investigation had not found anyone physically harmed by her conduct.
From the first fake license to the sentence
- First conviction
Kent County, Michigan: fraudulently impersonating a licensed nurse.
- Second conviction
Federal court in the Southern District of Texas, for the same conduct.
- Hired as an RN
A western Michigan nursing home hires her under a real nurse’s identity and later promotes her to unit manager.
- Charged and pleads guilty
After a prospective employer uncovers her real identity. She then flees and works as a nurse in Illinois and California.
- 75-month sentence
Her third conviction for posing as a nurse.
3rdconviction for posing as a nurse, after two that existed before she was hired
Three lessons for employers
1. A real license can sit behind a fake person
The nurse whose identity was used was real and licensed. A license lookup shows whether the license under that name is active, not who presented it. The question is whether the candidate is the person on the license.
2. Criminal searches follow the identity they are given
Two prior convictions for the same fraud existed before she was hired. A criminal search under the stolen name could not find them. Identity checks have to come first, or every other result describes someone else.
3. Check documents, not just names
A forged ID, license or diploma can carry the right name and the right number. Document authentication, an SSN trace with address history and contacting schools and employers directly are what test whether the paperwork is real.
