Two Florida residents are facing over a century behind bars after state officials uncovered a massive, years-long operation involving eight unlicensed assisted living facilities. Ronald Keith Pack, 60, and Marie Carenan, 56, were hit with multiple felony charges for allegedly trapping, abusing, and stealing from elderly and disabled adults through their businesses, Cherish Home Care, Inc. and Cherish Independent Living Care, Inc.
According to the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the pair took in vulnerable patients referred by mental and behavioral health facilities. Once the patients arrived at the network of homes, Pack and Carenan allegedly took away their identifications, Social Security benefits, EBT cards, medications, and personal belongings.
Investigators say the properties were heavily modified to restrict freedom, using padlocks on doors, windows, refrigerators, and cabinets. Residents could not leave freely, manage their own money, or access emergency medical care.
“Florida will not stand by while predators pose as caregivers and prey on the elderly and disabled,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said. “These defendants are accused of turning homes into prisons, stealing benefits, denying food and medicine, and subjecting victims to shocking conditions. I thank the members of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, and our state agencies who took part in this operation.”
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Sheriff’s Office carried out simultaneous search warrants at several properties in Kissimmee and nearby areas. The probe revealed a long history of trouble at the residences, including more than 300 calls for service in Osceola County alone. State officials also noted repeated complaints to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) regarding physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, alongside evidence of welfare fraud.
Multiple state agencies assisted with the raids and worked to relocate the victims immediately. DCF Secretary Taylor N. Hatch highlighted the joint effort, saying, “The Department played a key role in this operation from the earliest stages, working closely with our local partners to protect vulnerable adults and ensure that bad actors were held accountable.”
Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) Secretary Shevaun Harris added, “There is no place in Florida’s health care system for those who exploit the elderly and disabled for personal gain. I commend the Attorney General for taking swift action, and AHCA will continue doing everything in our power to ensure vulnerable Floridians are protected.”
The formal charges filed by the Office of Statewide Prosecution include seven distinct felony counts. Pack and Carenan face first-degree felony charges for an organized scheme to defraud over $20,000 and aggravated abuse of an elderly or disabled adult. They are also charged with exploitation over $10,000, aggravated neglect, standard abuse and neglect, and public assistance fraud. Prosecutors have filed a motion for pretrial detention, aiming to keep both defendants jailed without bond.
Department of Elder Affairs Secretary Michelle Branham expressed deep concern over the findings, stating that Florida’s seniors “deserve to live their later years with dignity, safety, and peace of mind.” She noted it was “deeply troubling that anyone would prey upon that trust through abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.”
Supporting this sentiment, Agency for Persons with Disabilities Director Bob Asztalos stated that protecting vulnerable adults is “a responsibility we all share” and praised the coordinated efforts to hold abusers accountable.
READ: $37B Leak: Florida Lawmakers New Bill Forces Nationwide Crackdown On Medicaid Waste, Fraud
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