The lead defendant in a scheme that manufactured, sold and distributed 120,000 counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination record cards was sentenced on October 10. Nicholas Frank Sciotto, 34, of Salt Lake City, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, three years supervised release, and ordered by the court to pay a $40,000 fine, after he admitted in July 2024 that he conspired to defraud the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by selling and distributing counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination record cards. In turn, Sciotto obtained over approximately $400,000 in profits. According to court documents and statements made at Sciotto’s sentencing hearing, between March 2021 and September 2021, Sciotto promoted, manufactured, sold, and distributed illegal and counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination record cards across the country.
He also sold the COVID-19 vaccination record cards wholesale to several coconspirators. Together, the coconspirators enabled numerous people to use fake vaccination record cards to masquerade as being vaccinated, so they could evade public health and safety protocols across the nation. Sciotto engaged in this scheme—without regard for any public health consequences or risks that he exposed individuals to during the pandemic, without their knowledge or consent, and he undermined the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccination program and other governmental health and safety regulations and protocols at significant profit.
