Manatee dental office manager stole thousands from patients, prosecutors say
A former dental office manager in Manatee County is headed to prison after prosecutors say she stole tens of thousands of dollars from businesses and their patients.
A Manatee County judge sentenced Tiffany Denyse Young, 54, of St. Petersburg, to 15 years in state prison followed by 15 years of probation, according to court records. Prosecutors said Young used her position to divert patient payments, alter checks and card transactions and obtain drugs for herself.
Court records show Young pleaded no contest in May to nearly 20 fraud-related charges, including schemes to defraud, fraudulent use of personal identification information, using counterfeit documents,obtaining codeine by fraud and passing a worthless check.
Woman sentenced for stealing from patients
Prosecutors said Young carried out the schemes at two local dental offices over several years.
She began working at an unnamed Manatee County dental practice in December 2020, where investigators said she altered checks, wrote worthless checks and used her employer’s U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration number to prescribe herself codeine.
In July 2022, Young was hired by Orthodontic Specialists off Ninth Avenue West in Bradenton, where detectives say she committed more fraud. By the time the fraud was discovered in February 2023, investigators said they found $6,700 in cash missing and nearly $8,000 worth of altered checks deposited into Young’s accounts.
According to an arrest report, Young persuaded patients to leave the “Pay to” line on their checks blank and then wrote her own name before depositing them into personal accounts. In one case, she changed a $300 check to $3,000, according to the report.
Investigators said she also issued fraudulent refunds from the office’s credit card machine to her own Mastercard and manipulated accounting software to cover her tracks.
According to arrest reports, investigators estimated Young may have stolen upwards of $20,000 from the two dental offices.
Woman altered identity to get jobs, prosecutor says
Prosecutors said Young had a prior record of similar crimes in Florida and had previously served time in prison.
Court records show Young’s criminal history dates back years in Pinellas County, where she was convicted in multiple cases involving fraud, credit card crimes, stolen property and worthless checks. In 2022, Young pleaded guilty in a St. Petersburg fraud case and was ordered to pay more than $9,000 in restitution after investigators said she stole money while working as an officer manager at a lawncare company.
Assistant State Attorney Justin Foster, who prosecuted the Manatee County cases, said in a written statement that Young “used her position of trust at these local practices to systematically defraud them out of tens of thousands of dollars. She was able to get these jobs by providing an altered middle name and Social Security Number. We encourage all employers to thoroughly and carefully vet any prospective employee who will be handling finances for your companies.”
“We are pleased that the victim businesses, their doctors, and patients will be protected from this defendant for the next 30 years,” Foster added.
Circuit Judge Stephen Mathew Whyte imposed the 15-year prison term, the maximum allowed for her most serious offense, which carries a three-year mandatory minimum sentence, according to court records.
