SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Federal charges have been dropped against Dr. Michael Kirk Moore Jr., a Utah plastic surgeon accused of issuing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and administering saline shots instead of vaccines.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the dismissal in a social media post Friday, saying the charges were dropped at her direction. "Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so," Bondi said. "He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today."

Moore was indicted in January 2023 by a federal grand jury along with three others connected to his practice, the Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah. Prosecutors accused the group of destroying COVID-19 vaccines, issuing fake CDC vaccination cards, and providing saline injections in place of vaccines to patients, including children.

According to the indictment, nearly 2,000 fraudulent vaccine cards were issued, paid for with cash or "donations" to a designated charity.

Moore, Kari Dee Burgoyne, 52, Kristin Jackson Andersen, 59, and Sandra Flores, 31, were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to convert and sell government property, and aiding and abetting the unlawful disposal of government supplies.

Bondi did not state whether charges against the other defendants remain in place.

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