Originally Posted - March 5, 2006

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When Michael Schiavo submitted his sworn application to the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Pinellas County, Florida in 1990 to become guardian of his brain damaged wife, Terri Schindler-Schiavo, he stated under penalties of perjury that he was the recipient of a AS degree from Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania.

However, according to an employee in the college admissions, registration and records department, Michael Schiavo is not an alumnus of the school and never received a degree from the facility. Although records indicate that Schiavo was registered at the school from 1982 to 1983, not the two years he claims on his sworn application filed with the court, he didn’t complete enough credits to receive a degree.

Lying on resumes about academic credentials has become pervasive nationwide and on Friday, lawmakers in the state of Washington took steps to send such liars to prison.

Washington state senators unanimously approved a bill Friday that would make giving or using a fake or otherwise unaccredited degree a class C felony, a crime of fraud that could warrant up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. It would also be illegal to lie orally, as well as in writing, about educational background when trying to get a job or other kind of benefit. The House had already passed the measure.

When final, the law will take effect in July.

Washington’s bill is also known as the diploma mill bill and is aimed at businesses which pretend to be educational institutions and usually operate on the Internet but in reality are only selling a paper degree and verification service if potential employers should inquire about the validity of statements made on resumes.

Sen. Mark Schoesler, the Republican who introduced the bill, said that such representation actually constitutes a fraud.

And Schiavo isn’t alone in making false statements about his educational background. Charles Abell, currently principal deputy undersecretary of defense for personal and readiness claims on his Pentagon web site biography that he has a master’s degree from Columbus University.

In actuality, Columbus University is an unaccredited cyberschool allegedly situated in New Orleans that was shut down by the state of Louisiana. It’s now operating with a mailing address in Mississippi.

In Washington state, a candidate for King County sheriff was investigated last year for using a phony paper degree in order to increase his annual salary and the sheriff’s office actually accepted the bogus, unaccredited degree.

Currently only four other states---Illinois, New Jersey, North Dakota and Oregon—currently have laws which prohibit the use or sale of bogus degrees.

Kentucky may be next as a bill has been drafted for presentation at the next session of the General Assembly that would make the use of bogus credentials a class D felony, punishable by a prison sentence of up to five years.

Bill sponsor State Rep. Susan Westrom said that she wants to make it illegal for someone who presents a fraudulent degree. “It defrauds the employer and defeats a level playing field”.

Schiavo is the husband of the late Terri Schindler-Schiavo who died last March 31 at Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park 13 days after he removed her nutrition and hydration, lobbying in the courts and particularly the court of Pinellas County probate judge George Greer, for nearly a decade to gain court permission to kill his wife.

Greer based his death warrant on Schiavo’s hearsay representation that Terri would not have wanted to be kept alive by assisted feeding both her family and friends have long disputed Schiavo’s assertion and have assailed his credibility---apparently with solid basis in view of the fabricated degree he listed on his guardianship application.

Schiavo remains under investigation by a medical malpractice investigator in the St. Petersburg office of the Florida Department of Health for alleged false sworn statements, according to information obtained by The North Country Gazette.

Schiavo is licensed in Florida as a registered nurse and respiratory therapist.

A complaint filed against Schiavo for alleged misrepresentation in his sworn application for employment as a nurse with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department passed initial department review in September and was deemed legally sufficient for investigation by DOH.

Florida DOH is statutorily given jurisdiction to investigate matters involving possible violations by licensees or allegations of unlicensed practice of profession as regulated by the department which include nursing and respiratory care.

For a complaint to be deemed legally sufficient for DOH investigation, the allegation must constitute a possible violation of a licensee’s practice act or governing rules and must contain adequate documentation to support the allegation.

Copies of the employment application which Schiavo had presented to the sheriff’s department in July, 2004 were provided with the complaint in addition to a copy of the 1990 guardianship application.

The complaint also includes allegations that Schiavo failed to comply with provisions of Florida’s guardianship law and allegedly violated the state’s co-habitation law.

It is alleged that Schiavo misrepresented his arrest record on the application to the sheriff’s department. Under the section of the application regarding arrests and summonses, Michael Schiavo omitted at least four citations which by itself is grounds, according to the application, for his termination from employment and should constitute grounds for the suspension and/or revocation of his professional licenses as his application as filed contained alleged false statements.

Violations of the co-habitation law constitute misdemeanors.

To date, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department has taken no action to bring criminal charges against Schiavo for the provable false statements listed on his employment application under penalty of perjury.

The sheriff’s department instituted new policy last month, implemented by chief deputy Dennis Fowler, which provides for a suspension of up to three days for sheriff’s officers who are allegedly cheating on their spouses or sleeping with another person’s spouse.

Fowler said the new policy was prompted because he had seen too many cases of deputy-involved cases of adultery leading to 911 calls.

It has long been speculated that the injuries sustained by Terri Schiavo 16 years ago on Feb. 25 1990, which resulted in brain injuries may have been the result of a domestic dispute between her and Michael.

The DOH complaint against Schiavo reportedly alleges unprofessional conduct, failure to comply with Florida Statutes and alleged “deceit, dishonesty and misrepresentation” involving his sworn application for guardianship of his wife and his July, 2004 application for employment as a nurse.

Both the guardianship application and employment application contained statements made under penalties of perjury.

In the case of the guardianship application, this information did not come to light until 2004 due to an alleged intentional misrepresentation by Michael Schiavo that he had presented copies of the application and given notification to the next of kin of his proposed ward, Mary and Robert Schindler Sr., when in fact he allegedly did not nor, on information and belief, did he give them proper legal notice of the hearing conducted for the petition for guardianship. This alleged fraud, concealment and intentional misrepresentation of facts prevented the discovery of the alleged violation and false statement until last fall.

According to the clerk’s office of the Pinellas County court, although there is a certificate of service on file in the clerk’s office indicating that the Schindlers were given notice of the incapacity hearing regarding their daughter on May 22, 1990, there is no reportedly no certificate of service on file giving proof that they were served with notice of the guardianship hearing which was held on June 18, 1990.

In regard to the guardianship application signed under penalty of perjury, Michael Schiavo swears under oath that he attended Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania for two years and obtained an associate in science degree.

Not only doesn’t his employment and education information given on the guardianship application under penalty of perjury match statements he made under oath at a 1993 deposition regarding guardianship and his 2004 employment application with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department, but according to the admissions office at Bucks County Community College, Michael Schiavo allegedly intentionally, willfully, knowingly and wrongly lied on his guardianship application about his education, saying that he had received an associates in science degree after completing a two year program at the college.

On completion of the investigation, all information will be forwarded to the DOH legal section for review and a recommendation to the probable cause panel of the health care practitioner’s professional board, in Schiavo’s case, the Board of Nursing.

  The Probable Cause Panel is composed of professionals and/or laymen who are appointed by the Governor to serve as members of the board.  It is their decision whether or not formal charges, an administrative complaint, will be filed.  An attorney from the department will be assigned to prosecute the case.  If probable cause is not determined (there is insufficient evidence to prosecute the case or it appears there is no violation of the licensing law), the Probable Cause Panel will direct that the complaint be dismissed.

   Following hearing, if the health practitioner is found to have violated the law, the regulatory board may impose one or one penalties including reprimand, fine, restriction of practice, remedial education, administrative cost, probation, license suspension or license revocation. 

It could also result in criminal penalties if it is determined that Schiavo filed a false employment application with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department. 3-05-06