Investigators: Nearly $13M stolen from university health system spent at adult web site

TAMPA — A former manager working with a USF Health support organization has pled guilty to mail fraud in federal court for stealing nearly $13 million from the university’s medical system and spending most of it on an adult website.

Ralph Puglisi, who worked for the University Medical Services Association, faces up to 20 years in prison and has agreed to fully repay the $12.8 million he stole, according to the plea deal agreed to by prosecutors. A follow-up investigation, however, found he may have stolen upwards of $15 million.