A Wayne County Circuit Court judge sentenced former Sinai-Grace Hospital nurse Wilfredo Figueroa-Berrios to 10 to 15 years in prison on Oct. 23, 2026, for sexually assaulting a patient — the first of eight separate criminal cases against him to reach a verdict.
Judge Donald Knapp Jr. imposed the term on a single count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, plus a concurrent sentence of 12 months to two years on a count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. A jury convicted Figueroa-Berrios on those two counts on Sept. 24, after a trial in which jurors acquitted him of three related counts tied to the same patient.
What prosecutors said happened
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office charged Figueroa-Berrios in October 2025 after a 31-year-old woman told police he sexually assaulted her while she was a patient at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit on Aug. 12, 2025. Sinai-Grace, part of the Detroit Medical Center system operated by Tenet Health, fired Figueroa-Berrios after the allegation surfaced and has said it is cooperating with the investigation. The hospital and Tenet also face a separate civil lawsuit from the woman, which alleges they failed to protect her from a nurse the suit claims they should have known was dangerous.
“A predator of the worst kind”
At sentencing, Assistant Prosecutor Elisabeth Moore asked the court for the maximum term, arguing Figueroa-Berrios used his position as a nurse to target a vulnerable patient. Knapp agreed, telling the courtroom that Figueroa-Berrios had violated a position of trust and treated the woman “as an object” who could satisfy his own desires rather than a person in need of care.
“That type of behavior is intolerable, cruel, and the community needs to be protected from it.”Judge Donald Knapp Jr., Wayne County Circuit Court
Defense attorney Tiffany Howell had asked for a seven-year sentence, noting prosecutors had previously offered that term in a plea deal Figueroa-Berrios turned down before trial. Figueroa-Berrios maintained his innocence at sentencing, telling the court: “All of this is gone because I have been convicted of a crime I did not commit.”
Seven more cases, 26 accusers
The August 2025 incident is one of eight separate criminal cases Wayne County prosecutors have filed against Figueroa-Berrios since his first arrest, each involving a different alleged victim. Prosecutors say 26 women in total have accused him of sexual assault connected to his work as a hospital nurse. Two more trials are scheduled to begin in early 2027; the remaining five cases have not yet been set for trial. Figueroa-Berrios has pleaded not guilty in each of the pending cases and is presumed innocent of those charges unless and until a jury finds otherwise.
I’ve worked bedside for more than 12 years, and the number that should unsettle every nurse reading this isn’t the sentence — it’s the eight. Eight separate criminal cases means eight times a patient was alone in a room with this man before anyone outside that room could stop it. A hospital that lets a nurse with multiple internal complaints keep working patient floors isn’t just risking a lawsuit; it’s building the exact conditions this case describes. Credentialing and complaint follow-through aren’t paperwork problems. They’re patient-safety ones.
What’s next
Figueroa-Berrios remains in custody pending the two additional trials expected to begin in early 2027. The civil lawsuit against Sinai-Grace Hospital and Tenet Health over the August 2025 incident is still pending in Wayne County Circuit Court.