Substance Abuse Counselor Sentenced to Two Years in Federal Prison for Defrauding Medicaid Program
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 05, 2013 |
Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Alan Emmett Bradley, 57, formerly of Norwalk, Connecticut, and Ocoee, Florida, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for defrauding Connecticut’s Medicaid program. Bradley also was ordered to pay $151,898.75 in restitution.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Bradley, a certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor, obtained the Medicaid identification numbers of various Medicaid clients and used the identification numbers to submit hundreds of claims to Connecticut’s Department of Social Services. The claims alleged that Bradley performed 75 to 80-minute individual psychotherapy sessions to these Medicaid clients at his office in Norwalk. Hundreds of these counseling sessions did not occur and, for many of them, Bradley was actually living and attending school in Florida.
Through this scheme, Bradley defrauded the Connecticut Medicaid program of $151,898.75.
The Connecticut Medicaid program is a joint federal-state program designed primarily to finance the provision of medical services to the indigent. It is administered in Connecticut by the Department of Social Services, and it is also supervised by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service.
Bradley was arrested in Florida on May 17, 2012. He has been detained since November 29, 2012, after he violated conditions of his pretrial release. On March 13, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud.
This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael Ahearn, Assistant United States Attorney David Sheldon and Auditor Kevin Saunders.
U.S. Attorney Fein encouraged individuals who suspect health care fraud to report it by calling the Health Care Fraud Task Force at 203-777-6311 or 1-800-HHS-TIPS.