Latoya Latrese Carey, 37, of Lehigh Acres, has been convicted of three counts of Fraudulently Creating or Uttering a Counterfeit Certification of Veterinary Inspection, following a two-day trial in Hendry County.
In 2023, the defendant accessed and used the office of a Hendry County veterinarian to create falsified rabies vaccination certificates. She later gave the certificates to Lee County Animal Services as proof of vaccination for dogs that had never received a rabies vaccine.
The certificates were produced on September 30, 2023, and showed vaccines were administered that day, which was impossible as the doctor, whose name was forged via his personal doctor’s signature stamp, had entered into a hospital days before that date.
Assistant State Attorney Kyle Bermingham and Assistant State Attorney Trevor Selph prosecuted the case.
Samantha Syoen – State Attorney’s Office Communications Director