Local Chiropractor Sentenced on Health Care Fraud and Tax Evasion Charges

WHEELING, WV—A local chiropractor was sentenced on September 5, 2013, in United States District Court in Wheeling by Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.

The United States Attorney’s Office announced that:

Joseph J. Yurigan, age 62, of New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Yurigan entered pleas of guilty on October 9, 2012, to one count of health care fraud by submitting a fraudulent claim to a health care benefit program and one count of Income Tax Evasion for the calendar year 2008. Yurigan, a doctor of chiropractic medicine and licensed to practice in the state of West Virginia, operated two chiropractic clinics in the Northern District of West Virginia. One clinic is located in Weirton, West Virginia, and is operated under the name Weirton Chiropractic Clinic. The other clinic was operated under the name Wheeling Spine Center.

As part of his plea, Yurigan will make restitution of $513,373.92 for the health care violation and $322,692.03 for the tax evasion violation.

Yurigan, who is free on bond, will self-report to the designated federal institution on October 7, 2013.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Randolph J. Bernard and Alan G. McGonigal and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation-Special Investigations Department, the West Virginia Insurance Commission-Fraud Investigation Unit, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations.