Bradley Chiropractor to Serve Nearly Three Years in Prison, Pay $495,000 Restitution for Insurance Billing Fraud, Failure to File Tax Returns

PEORIA, Ill. – U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid has ordered that Joseph Mayotte, who previously owned and operated Bradley Chiropractic Clinic, in Bradley, Ill., serve 33 months in prison, the sentence recommended by the government, and pay restitution in the amount of $401,000 to Blue Cross Blue Shield and $93,526 to the IRS. The hearing for Mayotte, 72, of Kankakee, Ill., concluded late afternoon on Oct. 3, before Judge Shadid in Peoria. Mayotte was ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on Dec. 17, 2019, to begin serving his sentence.

Mayotte entered pleas of guilty to the offenses charged on Feb. 11, 2019, as jury selection was beginning for trial. Mayotte admitted that from January 2007 to October 2015, he submitted false billing claims to defraud Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance. The false claims were typically made on behalf of patients for whom the clinic had not provided any services or were in excess of the actual services provided. As a result, Blue Cross Blue Shield paid the clinic money to which it was not entitled, which Mayotte then used for his own benefit. In addition, Mayotte admitted that he failed to file federal income tax returns for tax years 2011 through 2014.

In addition to Mayotte, the clinic’s former office manager, Constance Leadingham, aka Connie, previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing false income tax returns, and was sentenced on March 1, 2019. Leadingham, of Watseka, was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for her role in the fraud scheme. As the clinic’s office manager, Leadingham admitted she submitted false billing claims, then wrote checks payable to herself from the clinic’s checking account in addition to her salary. Leadingham also admitted that in addition to the fraud scheme, she filed false income tax returns for tax years 2011, 2012, and 2013.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Office of Inspector General; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy A. Bass represented the government in the case prosecutions.