SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man has been found guilty of manufacturing and selling 120,000 counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination record cards across the United States in 2021.
On Thursday, Nicholas Frank Ciotto, 34, of Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a court fined him $4,000, according to court documents. He was ordered to pay $1,000. .
Ciotto admitted in July that he defrauded the CDC by creating fake vaccination cards and made about $400,000 in 2021, according to federal prosecutors.
Documents say Ciotto created fake badges and posed as a volunteer for a major coronavirus testing company in Utah to trick printing shop employees into printing thousands of vaccine cards.
Details of fake vaccination cards sold by Ciotto. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
“On Facebook, Ciotto sold each card for $10 per order, with a minimum of 10 cards, plus $5 for shipping, and required buyers to use mobile payment services to complete the transaction,” according to court documents. “I induced him.”
The documents say Ciotto worked with Kyle Blake Burbage, 33, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, to distribute the cards. Burbage is scheduled to plead guilty in August 2023 and be sentenced on October 29.
