Pennsylvania Man Sentenced in Scheme to Steal Funds Intended for Wife’s Dialysis
| U.S. Attorney’s Office May 15, 2013 |
PHILADELPHIA—Darwin D. Dieter, 53, of Kempton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced late yesterday to 18 months in prison and was ordered to pay $532,333.51 restitution in connection with his thefts from a health care benefit program, the dialysis treatment center where his wife was receiving dialysis treatments. Dieter, a former employee of a direct mail company located in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, stole checks that his insurance company issued between December 2010 and March 2011 for payment of his wife’s dialysis treatments. Instead of paying for the dialysis treatments, Dieter kept and laundered the proceeds of the checks. Dieter pleaded guilty on January 28, 2013, to nine counts of theft from health care benefit programs and three counts of money laundering.
In addition to the prison term and restitution, U.S. District Court Judge James Knoll Gardner ordered three years of supervised release, the first six months of which must be served on home confinement. Dieter must also pay a $1,200 special assessment and must forfeit his interest in two properties.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mary E. Crawley.