State and local authorities say a man and woman operated several “unlicensed assisted living facilities” in the Poinciana area in both Osceola and Polk counties.
Osceola County sheriff's deputies arrested Ronald Keith Pack, 60, and Marie Tarah Carenan, 56, Wednesday on several felony charges including scheme to defraud, elderly exploitation, and abuse and neglect of the elderly or disabled.
Osceola County Sheriff Christopher Blackmon said Wednesday that his office executed search warrants at three homes following an investigation that began in March 2025.
He said he expects additional charges.
Blackmon said Polk County deputies also executed search warrants at three homes on their side of the county line. Officials said the network of homes was operated as Cherish Home Care and Cherish Independent Living.
There were, at one point, nine homes involved, but three were closed during the Osceola County Sheriff's Office probe.
A months-long investigation
Detective E. Mangual-Barbosa investigated the case. His affidavit, filed with the court, said the homes were presented as independent living facilities but were really “unlicensed assisted living facilities.”
The affidavit was signed last November following an eight-month investigation that included numerous site visits, witness interviews, incriminating text messages and financial records.
It documented the taking and use of residents' Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards -- their SNAP benefits. Mangual also investigated monthly payments, using government funds, from mental and behavioral health facilities that transferred patients to the network of unlicensed homes.
On Wednesday, the Department of Children and Families removed 38 residents and placed them in licensed facilities.
Sheriff Blackmon said he wanted to remind people to use an online tool -- like FloridaHealthFinder.dot.gov -- to check on any long-term care facility before leaving a family member there.
"Please take the time to verify that the location is properly licensed, staffed with qualified professionals, and operating within the state guidelines," he said.
In this case, the investigation showed that area mental and behavioral health facilities failed to take that step -- and handed over thousands of dollars in government funds.
In a statement about the arrests, the Florida Attorney General's Office accused Pack and Carenan of accepting those "vulnerable patients ... and then seizing control of their identification, EBT cards, Social Security benefits, medications, and personal belongings while restricting their freedom through padlocked doors, windows, refrigerators, and cabinets. Victims reportedly could not leave freely, manage their own finances or food, or access emergency medical care."
The two criminal cases are in the jurisdiction of both the 9th and 10th judicial circuits. So they're being handled by the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution.
On Thursday, a judge ordered Pack and Carenan be held without bail, appointed public defenders to represent them and set a hearing for Monday.
