Two Charlotte residents, in separate cases, were sentenced this week for Medicaid fraud and were ordered to repay about $3 million to the state Medicaid program, announced U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the North Carolina's western district.
Sarah Lavonne Willis, 49, was sentenced Monday to 92 months in federal prison for health care fraud, money laundering, failure to file tax returns, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Tompkins said.
Willis was charged in November 2010 for billing state Medicaid for mental health services that she did not provide, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Willis used the money to buy a $40,000 Hummer H2, a $100,000 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur, and a $14,000 Dodge Charger, according to the department. She also used some of the money to bail herself out of jail in December 2009.
Willis submitted false claims for adults and children who never received services or who had dropped her services. Willis also claimed to have provided services while she was incarcerated, filing and receiving payments of $17,000 for services supposedly rendered while she was behind bars in August 2009, according to the Justice Department. She also submitted claims for services that covered more than 24 hours in a day, including claims for more than 80 hours of work in a day.
U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ordered Willis to repay the state Medicaid program nearly $1.1 million and $145,197 to the Internal Revenue Service.
In a separate case, Giraud Hope, 49, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for conspiring to commit health care fraud. Hope, through his mental health services company Hope and Family Behavioral Resources, schemed to defraud Medicaid by working with a co-conspirator to submit fake claims for services that were provided by people without licenses and who were not authorized to receive Medicaid payments.
Cogburn ordered him to pay $1.9 million in restitution.
