A six-person jury found 40-year-old Nick Cirio guilty of 10 counts of patient brokering.

WEST PALM BEACH — Assistant State Attorney Ashley Ackerman told the jury there were two words that were said over and over again throughout the trial of Nick Cirio: patient brokering. And, she said, they still may not know exactly what that means or still may be digesting the large amount of evidence, but she wanted to be clear on why they sat through three days of testimony this week.

"The reason we are here is because the defendant operated a treatment center and he paid (the sober-home owner) to bring patients to that treatment center. Period," Ackerman said Wednesday. "He bought human beings to fill his treatment center."

A six-person jury found the 40-year-old Cirio guilty of 10 counts of patient brokering. Cirio, who took the stand in his own trial Wednesday afternoon before Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Cheryl Caracuzzo, was taken into custody after the verdict was read. He will be sentenced March 25. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

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Though this is the first patient-brokering case to go to trial since the State Attorney's Office created the Sober Homes Task Force in 2016, Cirio is one of dozens who have been charged with the crime. Many of those charged have taken plea deals in lieu of trials.

Prosecutors said Cirio paid thousands of dollars to sober-home owner Sean Krizan exchange for referring patients to "The Program," a West Palm Beach-area treatment center owned by his mother. Krizan took the stand Tuesday and said that while he didn't know what they were doing was a crime at the time, he said it didn't feel right.

“It wasn't like we were going to Starbucks and openly discussing in front of people,” Krizan said in court.

Krizan will not be charged by prosecutors in exchange for his testimony.

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During closing arguments Wednesday, defense attorney Jack Fleischman said the case is about 10 checks and whether they were used in violation of the patient-brokering law, which bans paying for patients. He told the jury, there's no evidence to prove that.

While on the stand, Cirio said he paid the checks to Krizan so he would advertise for the sober homes that Cirio owned across Palm Beach County. He said they were flat-rate checks made twice a month for marketing services only. He denied the money was used to refer patients to "The Program" treatment center. He said his only connections to the center were the facts his mother owned it and that he had an office in the same shopping plaza.

A former patient of "The Program" and the clinical director both testified during the trial that they saw him at the facility. The clinical director said he took direction from Cirio.

Fleischman asked the jury that if those payments were used for referring patients like the prosecution says, where are the names of the patients he got paid for? Where's the insurance information Krizan said he sent via text message to Cirio?

"Is there any evidence that corroborates a crime?" he asked the jury.

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Assistant State Attorney Justin Chapman echoed his trial partner's closing arguments and said there was plenty of information over the three days of trial. He said while they may not agree on whether Cirio ran the treatment center or other aspects of the case, there was only one thing to consider.

"The only thing you all need to agree on is: What was the purpose of those payments?"

Cirio's trial began Monday after Circuit Judge Laura Johnson had ruled in a separate patient-brokering case that may change the outcome of future prosecutions. Part of her ruling states that prosecutors must prove those charged with patient brokering knew what they were doing was illegal. Before the ruling, prosecutors only had to prove that those charged were paying in part for referral of patients.

Though Caracuzzo declined to rule similarly in Cirio's case, she said she believed the issue will be decided by the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

State Attorney Dave Aronberg said that as the first trial for the Sober Home Task Force, the verdict was important and has given it “great validation” in its continued fight on rouge sober homes and corrupt treatment centers across the county.

“Today’s verdict was a green light for our continued fight,” Aronberg said. “And we will continue our efforts full speed ahead.”