A Nipomo resident allegedly running
a medical weight loss and immigration
services clinic to help determine immigrant
applicants’ legal status faces charges of fraud
and misuse of visas and permits.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested
Chantelle Lavergne Woods on Feb. 26 on a
federal complaint detailing reported fraud
carried out in an Arroyo Grande medical
clinic between February 2021 and April 2024.
“In May 2022, an undercover officer
involved in this investigation received a
text message from Lavergne to which was
attached a flyer that stated, ‘*[o]ur fee is
$300.00 to complete the I-693 physical which
includes 2 visits with us *Laboratory cost is
$150.00 which includes Syphilis, Gonorrhea,
and TB QuantiFERON Gold Blood tests,’”
the Feb. 18 criminal complaint said.
United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) requires applicants to
submit records of medical examinations and
vaccinations that assess physical and mental
health factors.
The DOJ alleged that Lavergne, 54,
produced hundreds of fraudulent health
examination documents for people pursuing
green card registration or otherwise
adjusting their immigration status.
The criminal complaint redacted the
DOJ complainant’s name. The complainant
discovered the Arroyo Grande clinic
that advertised medical weight loss and
immigration services through a website
called sugarmanweightloss.com. The
investigation unearthed an agreement
Lavergne signed with point-of-sale terminal
provider SpotOn.
“Monthly statements from Spot On for
the period of June 2021 to March 2022 show
that the clinic had 1,047 sales transactions
with resulting deposits of $287,563.98,” the
complaint said.
Lavergne allegedly misused a medical
license after it expired in December 2021.
The surgeon who it belonged to had passed
away, according to the complaint. She wrote
and signed a check dated January 2022—
almost one year after his death—to the
Medical Board of California to renew the
expired license.
Investigators discovered that another
surgeon at the clinic was a neonatologist who
met Lavergne through a shared personal
trainer. Interviews with the DOJ revealed
that he volunteered at an “immigration
office,” which he later identified as the clinic
where he reviewed vaccination records
provided by immigration applicants’ lawyers.
“He never conducted a physical exam on
any of the immigration applicants nor did he
ever see any such individuals at the clinic,”
the complaint said. “He never dispensed any
controlled substances while associated with
the clinic and terminated his association
with the clinic when he learned that
Lavergne was ‘getting into diet pills.’”
A federal magistrate judge ordered
Lavergne to be released on a $10,000 bond.
She faces a maximum of 10 years in federal
prison if she’s found guilty of the felony. Her
arraignment in the U.S. District Court is
scheduled for March 25.
This article appears in Mar 6-16, 2025.