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Ocala Mental Health Counselor Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida announced the guilty plea on August 14, 2026; sentencing has not yet been reported.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 15, 2026, 10:27 a.m. ET
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This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.

Michelle Forsythe, 62, of Ocala, Florida, has guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of wire fraud, according to an announcement published by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida on August 14, 2026. The office's record states she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud offense and a minimum sentence of two years for the aggravated identity theft offense. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement. According to the announcement, which cites court documents, Forsythe is a licensed mental health counselor. Between January 2016 and December 2022, she used the names and insurance policy information of 22 individuals without their knowledge or consent to overbill two health insurance companies, falsely claiming she had provided counseling services to them when she had not. The insurers electronically transferred payments to her as a result of the false billing. In one instance, the record states, she used the name and health insurance information of an individual she had never seen as a patient to bill fraudulently for counseling services. Forsythe has agreed to make full restitution of $483,321.44 to the victims of the offense, according to the record. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Marion County Sheriff's Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys William S. Hamilton and Hannah Nowalk Watson, with Assistant United States Attorney Julie A. Simonsen handling the forfeiture. The case remains at the plea stage in federal district court. The record as published does not give a sentencing date, and no sentence has been imposed.

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Revision history

  1. Version 115 Aug 2026, 14:27current

    First published.

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