Waynesboro Chiropractor Pleads Guilty
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 09, 2013 |
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a Waynesboro, Pennsylvania chiropractor has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a bogus automobile accident personal injury claim.
According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Lawrence S. Herman, age 47, a resident of Frederick, Maryland, and the owner/operator of Herman Chiropractic in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to a one count Information charging him with false statements in health care matters. Herman entered his guilty plea today in United States District Court in Harrisburg before the Honorable Sylvia Rambo in Harrisburg. The plea was entered by Herman pursuant to a plea agreement with the government.
The charges stem from a claim Herman submitted to the USAA insurance company in May 2012 for injuries allegedly suffered in an August 16, 2011 automobile accident in Maryland. In May 2012, Herman supported his claim with records indicating he was treated by a chiropractor for neck and back injuries between August 2011 and January 2012. When USAA did not immediately honor the claim, Herman hired a Baltimore area law firm to demand $60,000 from USAA for reimbursement of his chiropractic treatment expenses and for pain and suffering.
During the guilty plea hearing, Herman admitted the chiropractic treatment records were false and were created, at his direction, by a chiropractor who worked for him in his Waynesboro office. To conceal the fact the chiropractor was his employee, the fraudulent treatment records were submitted to USAA under a fictitious business letterhead created by Herman.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Douglas Daniel stated during the hearing that Herman was not injured in the accident and in fact participated in several 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon foot races during the period when Herman was supposedly being treated for his injuries in late 2011.
The case was investigated by the Harrisburg Office of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kim Douglas Daniel.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
In this case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is five years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect, the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational, and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.