Jacquez Tullis

Introduction

Jacquez Dion Tullis is a 42-year-old man from Wellington, Florida, who was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for building six sham cosmetic-surgery clinics on the stolen identities of more than 100 people — including practicing doctors and deceased individuals — and using them to defraud medical lenders of approximately $2.3 million, before turning to fraudulently seeking Covid-19 disaster-relief loans when the pandemic hit. Tullis pleaded guilty in July 2026 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, and U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II of the Southern District of Florida handed down the sentence in November 2026, along with five years of supervised release, full restitution of $2,309,859.44 and a matching forfeiture judgment. Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s fraud division said the sentence “makes clear that the Fraud Division will hold accountable those who abuse the public’s trust, whether they steal from private lenders or from the American people” .

Background Information

According to court documents and Tullis’s own plea admissions, from approximately April 2018 through February 2024 he and his co-conspirators created six sham medical clinics that claimed to offer cosmetic surgery and other medical services but provided no real care. The conspirators registered the clinics with the Florida Department of State using the personal identifying information of practicing doctors and others without their knowledge or consent, and in some cases listed those doctors as clinic owners on applications to become approved merchants with six medical lenders — two FDIC-insured banks and four financial technology companies that finance out-of-pocket procedures not covered by insurance . The Department of Justice charged all three defendants in the case as part of its 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown announced on June 30, 2025 . (The department’s release spells Tullis’s first name both “Jacquez” and “Jaquez”; the formal sentencing paragraph uses “Jacquez Dion Tullis”.)

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted a bank-fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft built on fake clinics; sentenced to 84 months.

Once the fake clinics were approved as merchants, the conspirators submitted fraudulent credit-card applications to the lenders in the names of more than 100 individuals, seeking approximately $3.1 million and falsely representing that the borrowed funds would pay for cosmetic surgery and other services. The people whose names were used did not know about or authorize the applications and did not need or want any treatment — and according to death records, some had died before the dates they supposedly received care . Separately, from April through August 2020, Tullis submitted at least nine fraudulent applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration for Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds — federal stimulus authorized under the CARES Act — collectively seeking $696,860 on the strength of false representations about the businesses’ number of employees and revenue . McDonald said in the announcement: “Jacquez Tullis built fake medical clinics using stolen identities, including those of practicing doctors and deceased individuals, and used them to steal millions from lenders… When the pandemic hit, Tullis then tried to exploit taxpayer-funded relief meant for struggling small businesses” .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Federal officials framed the sentence as a warning about identity-based medical fraud. Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of FBI Miami said the defendant’s actions “represent a serious breach of trust, exploiting the identities of innocent individuals and manipulating financial institutions for personal gain”, adding that “those who believe they can hide behind elaborate schemes” will be pursued . Two co-defendants had already been sentenced: Taneika Nakia Pace, 50, of Hallandale Beach, manager of two of the sham clinics, received six months in prison and four years of supervised release in September 2026 after admitting bank fraud; and Junaque Nicole Tullis, 46, of Coral Springs, who submitted at least five fraudulent EIDL applications seeking about $164,521, received eight months in August 2026 after admitting wire fraud .

Current Status

Tullis, 42, pleaded guilty on July 21, 2026, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Judge Ruiz sentenced him to 60 months on the bank-fraud conspiracy count and a consecutive 24 months on the aggravated identity-theft count — 84 months in total — followed by five years of supervised release, with $2,309,859.44 in restitution, a $200 special assessment and a forfeiture money judgment of the same $2,309,859.44 . The sentencing was announced by the Justice Department on November 12, 2026; no appeal was reported .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Tullis begins a seven-year federal term with both the restitution and an equal-sized forfeiture judgment standing against him, and a conviction set that includes aggravated identity theft — one of the federal system’s strictest fraud counts. The Justice Department’s release ties his prosecution to the newly created Fraud Division and to the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance, making his case one of the announced exemplars of the government’s current posture toward health-care and pandemic-relief fraud . The victims — the doctors whose names anchored the clinics and the more than 100 people whose identities were turned into loan applications — now have court-ordered restitution on the record even as the release notes the fraud’s reach across six lenders and two federal programs .

Sources

• “Florida Man Sentenced for Stealing Millions of Dollars from Lenders Using Sham Cosmetic Surgery Clinics and Stolen Identities” — U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, 12 November 2026: source