Collinsville Man Pleads Guilty To Theft Of Medicaid Funds

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Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on October 15, 2014, Lawrence Thigpen, 53, of Collinsville, Illinois, pled guilty to submitting false and fraudulent bills in relation to personal assistant services in the Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home.

Facts brought out in Court showed that Thigpen was falsifying time sheets in order for his girlfriend, who was also his personal assistant, to receive payments for time periods when she was actually locked up in jail. Sentencing has been set for February 13, 2015, in United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois. Thigpen will face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to 3 years of supervised release.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Illinois State Police’s Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ranley Killian and Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael Hallock.