Malachi Love-Robinson is the Florida man known publicly as “Dr. Love,” who at 18 was arrested in West Palm Beach in February 2016 for running a fake medical clinic and impersonating a physician. He has since been convicted and sentenced to prison three separate times — in Virginia for credit fraud, in Florida for practicing medicine without a license and stealing from an elderly patient, and again in Florida for defrauding an employer while working as a shipping salesperson.
The Fake Clinic and the “Dr. Love” Persona
By early 2016, Love-Robinson was operating the New Birth New Life Medical Center and Urgent Care at the West Palm Medical Plaza on North Congress Avenue in West Palm Beach. He listed himself as president, CEO, and founder, and his online profiles claimed he held both a Ph.D. and an M.D.1CNN. Florida Teen Arrested for Practicing Medicine Without a License
The clinic advertised services in psychology, urgent care, gynecology, counseling, marriage and family therapy, and hospital administration.2ABC7 New York. Florida Teen Arrested for Impersonating Doctor Love-Robinson said he used “physiological, psychological, and mechanical methods” including herbal remedies, air, water, and phototherapy, and posted that he accepted 19 health insurance plans plus Medicaid.3WUSF. South Florida Teen Charged With Running Illegal Medical Office He had obtained a National Provider Identifier number, required to bill Medicare and Medicaid, by allegedly misrepresenting himself as an M.D. on the application. His only documented credential was a $29.95 divinity degree from the online Universal Life Church Seminary.4NBC News. Doctor Deception: How Florida Teen Allegedly Faked Being M.D. Investigators also confirmed he had never enrolled in the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Sciences, which he had cited as a credential.5WPTV. Love and Deception: How a Fake Teen Doctor Ended Up Behind Bars
A business partner, Perseus Wells, told reporters he had put $10,000 into the clinic and had believed Love-Robinson was a naturopathic doctor until he watched police make the arrest.6ABC News. Florida Teen Accused of Posing as Doctor Denies Diagnosing Patients
The Elderly Patient He Defrauded
Anita Morrison, an 86-year-old woman in the Breaker’s West community, found Love-Robinson through an online search and hired him in January 2016 to treat stomach problems at her home. Wearing a lab coat and stethoscope, he examined her, sold her thousands of dollars in over-the-counter vitamins, and recommended tests including an ultrasound and a colonoscopy, both of which she completed. She refused his suggestion that he perform a Pap smear.7WPBF. Victim: Teen Who Posed as Doctor Deserves Jail Time
Investigators determined that Love-Robinson had forged Morrison’s signature on three checks and used her checking account to make $34,504 in payments toward his own auto loans and credit card debts.8CBS 12. Timeline Some reports put the total taken from her at roughly $40,000. In a videotaped deposition in July 2016, taken early because prosecutors were worried about her health, Morrison said: “He forged my signature, and he took funds out of my bank account. I don’t know what they’ll do with him, but he deserves some type of punishment.”7WPBF. Victim: Teen Who Posed as Doctor Deserves Jail Time
How He Was Caught
The Florida Department of Health had already investigated Love-Robinson in October 2015 and issued a cease-and-desist order for practicing medicine without a license out of a Boynton Beach location.9Healthcare Dive. Florida Teen Arrested for Posing as Physician, Running Illegal Medical Office He kept working anyway.
The department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office ran a joint undercover operation at the North Congress Avenue clinic. On February 16, 2016, an undercover agent came in complaining of a sore throat and sneezing. Love-Robinson examined her, listened to her lungs, took her blood pressure, and told her to take an allergy pill.6ABC News. Florida Teen Accused of Posing as Doctor Denies Diagnosing Patients She signaled the other detectives, who came in and arrested him.3WUSF. South Florida Teen Charged With Running Illegal Medical Office He was released the next day on $21,000 bail.10STAT News. Teen Impersonates Doctor
The initial charges were two counts of practicing medicine without a license, one count of grand theft larceny, and four counts of fraud.6ABC News. Florida Teen Accused of Posing as Doctor Denies Diagnosing Patients In March 2016 he was arrested a second time on charges tied to the Morrison thefts: one count of larceny and five counts of using another person’s identification without consent.11Florida Courier. Another Arrest for Accused Fake Teen Doctor Shortly after that, in a hospital visit unrelated to the doctoring charges, he gave a defiant interview to ABC News in which he called his conduct his “job as a good citizen” and still maintained he held a Ph.D.
Arrested Again in Virginia While on Bail
Out on bail in the Florida cases, Love-Robinson turned up at Kargar Motors, a car dealership in Stafford County, Virginia. On September 9, 2016, staff grew suspicious when the 19-year-old tried to buy a vehicle, reported variously as a $35,000 Jaguar or a Lexus, by naming a 73-year-old woman as a co-signer without her knowledge or consent.12WJLA. Car Dealership: FL Teen Who Posed as Doctor Arrested in VA Employees searched his name online, recognized him, and called police.13Time. Malachi Love-Robinson Teen Doctor Arrested Again
Investigators found he had submitted two other unauthorized loan applications with the woman’s information and had used her credit card to buy two iPads and a cellphone, running up $1,200 in unauthorized charges.14CBS News. Dr. Love Malachi Love-Robinson Arrested at Virginia Car Dealership He was charged with false statements to obtain credit, obtaining money by false pretenses, and identity fraud, and was held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.12WJLA. Car Dealership: FL Teen Who Posed as Doctor Arrested in VA
Convictions and Prison Sentences
Virginia
In March 2017, Love-Robinson pleaded guilty in Stafford County to two felonies: uttering a forgery and making a false statement to obtain credit. Two other charges were dropped in the plea deal. On May 22, 2017, Judge Charles Sharp gave him five years on each count but suspended nine years, leaving a one-year term to run concurrently. With eight months of credit for jail time already served, roughly four months remained. During the pre-sentence investigation, he falsely claimed a bachelor’s degree from “Harris University,” an institution that does not exist.15WPBF. Fake Teen Doctor Sentenced in Virginia
Florida — The Fake Clinic Case
After serving the Virginia sentence, he returned to Florida. In January 2018 he pleaded guilty to grand theft, practicing medicine without a license, and fraud, six charges in all connected to the clinic.5WPTV. Love and Deception: How a Fake Teen Doctor Ended Up Behind Bars16CBS News Miami. Palm Beach Man Once Nicknamed Dr. Love Headed to Prison Again Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath sentenced him to 42 months in prison with credit for time served and ordered more than $80,000 in restitution to his victims.17Palm Beach Post. Dr. Love Sentenced He was released in 2019.18Fox 13. Fake Teen Doctor Known as Dr. Love Prison Sentence
Florida — Defrauding an Employer
Not long after his release, Love-Robinson took a sales job at United States of Freight, a Delray Beach shipping broker that matched shippers with trucking companies. In 2020 he began directing clients to send payments to his own personal accounts instead of the company’s.19WFLX. Fake Teen Doctor Sentenced in Separate Fraud in Palm Beach County The owner reported the scheme in March 2020.20Sun Sentinel. Dr. Love Sentenced to Prison for Grand Theft and Fraud Love-Robinson was arrested in December 2021 and pleaded guilty to grand theft and organized scheme to defraud. In December 2022 he was sentenced to 28 months in prison, two years of probation, and $10,129 in restitution.
What Florida Law Says About Practicing Medicine Without a License
Under Florida Statute 458.327, practicing or attempting to practice medicine without a license is a third-degree felony.21Florida Legislature. Florida Statute 458.327 Florida Statute 456.065 adds penalties for unlicensed practice of any health care profession, including a minimum one-year prison term and a $1,000 fine for a third-degree felony conviction, and it lets the Department of Health issue cease-and-desist orders and administrative fines of up to $5,000 per incident.22Florida Senate. Florida Statute 456.065 Naturopathy is not a licensed medical specialty in Florida, so Love-Robinson’s later characterization of himself as a “naturopathic physician” was not a defense.10STAT News. Teen Impersonates Doctor
Not the Same Person as Malachi Robinson of Kansas City
Malachi Love-Robinson is a different person from Malachi Robinson of Kansas City, Missouri, who was sentenced in April 2023 to 262 months in federal prison without parole under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act for luring a 16-year-old boy to Swope Park in May 2019 and shooting him eight times because of his sexual orientation.23New York Times. LGBTQ Hate Crime Missouri Shooting24Kansas City Star. Malachi Robinson Sentenced for Federal Hate Crime The two cases are unrelated.