A federal probe into embezzlement that siphoned millions from Miami-Dade County’s public hospital fundraising arm concluded this month when one of the organization’s former top overseers admitted in federal court to orchestrating the scheme.
Charmaine Gatlin, the former Chief Operating Officer of the Jackson Health Foundation, pleaded guilty to defrauding the foundation out of at least $4.3 million between 2014 and 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The money was intended to support Jackson Health System’s safety net hospitals and patients. Instead, Gatlin, 52, diverted the funds to herself, her relatives or unrelated entities to pay for luxury goods, kickbacks and even a rose-gold golf cart for her home in Weston.
Federal prosecutors said Gatlin exploited her executive position by funneling the foundation’s funds to vendors who kicked back large sums, while also directing contracts toward companies that showered her with designer goods.
All the while, Gatlin was earning a six-figure salary.
She faces up to 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom is due to sentence her Nov. 25.
“Today’s hearing is an important step toward justice being served,” Jackson Health System CEO Carlos Migoya said in a statement to the Miami Herald, which first reported Gatlin’s guilty plea Friday.
According to court filings, Gatlin approved nearly $2 million in invoices from Yergan Jones, a Georgia-based audiovisual vendor, for services never performed. Jones then kicked back roughly $1 million, some of which Gatlin used to pay her personal credit card bills.
Prosecutors said Gatlin even coached Jones on how to falsify invoices to make the scheme more convincing. Jones, 63, pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces two to three years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Young prosecuted the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Raemy Charest-Turken overseeing asset forfeiture. The investigation was led by the FBI Miami Field Office, with assistance from Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz’s Office. U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida and FBI Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles jointly announced Gatlin’s guilty plea.
The plea agreement describes Gatlin’s direction to a Miami-Dade vendor to buy luxury Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Apple products for her in exchange for keeping contracts. Another fraudulent invoice Gatlin approved disguised a $55,000 purchase of “first aid kits” that were, in fact, luxury items.
In 2023, Gatlin arranged for a rose-gold golf cart to be delivered to her Weston home under the guise of a legitimate Jackson Health Foundation expense. By then, she was earning between $185,000 and $290,000 annually from her salary, yet prosecutors said she continued to drain donor funds intended for children, patients and public health initiatives.
Gatlin was terminated from the Foundation last Fall after internal reviews flagged misconduct. The organization quickly alerted the FBI, leading to her May arrest in Georgia.
Her defense lawyer, David Howard, originally entered a not guilty plea on her behalf in June.
Young charged her with 26 counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering and conspiracy.
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