White-Collar Crime
Fla. Doc Gets 30 Years in Medicare Case
Posted Dec 18, 2008, 11:34 am CST
By Martha Neil
Most individuals convicted of Medicare fraud get about 2½ years in prison, on average. But a Florida physician who aggravated a judge by lying on the stand got a lot more.
"U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno hammered Dr. Ana Alvarez-Jacinto, 54, with one of the stiffest punishments ever for a Medicare fraud offender," reports the Miami Herald. "She was convicted in October of writing phony prescriptions at a clinic for HIV patients in an $11 million scam against the nation's health insurance program."
Saying that Alvarez-Jacinto had "blatantly lied," in addition to falsifying records, prescribing unnecessary treatment and showing no remorse for her criminal conduct, Moreno sentenced her to considerably more time than the 22 years the government had requested. The judge also said that he wanted the sentence to be a deterrent to others who might be tempted by criminal opportunities in what is considered the health-care fraud capital of the country.
Alvarez-Jacinto could well spend the rest of her life in prison, since federal system doesn't provide for parole, the newspaper notes.