Owner of Justice Medical Complex Pleads Guilty to Misuse of a DEA Registration Number and Defrauding the Medicare Program

CHARLESTON, WV—Cameron J. Justice, 30, of Crum, West Virginia, pled guilty yesterday before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. to conspiracy to misuse a DEA registration number to distribute controlled substances and to defrauding the Medicare program. Justice, President/Owner of Justice Medical Complex (JMC), LLC, located in Mingo County, West Virginia, admitted he and others employed by the JMC knowingly used the DEA registration number issued to another person to distribute controlled substances such as hydrocodone and alprazolam. He further admitted that from 2005 to March 2009, he knowingly allowed the clinic to defraud the Medicare program by falsely billing for services personally performed by physicians, which were not, in fact, performed by physicians. Patients of the JMC did not normally meet with physicians, but were sometimes given face-to-face examinations and evaluations by nurse practitioners employed by the clinic. As a result, Justice caused the Medicare program to pay approximately $289,000 as a result of fraudulent billing. Justice, who is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2010, faces up to 14 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. The Drug Enforcement Administration, West Virginia State Police, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. AUSA Monica Schwartz is handling the prosecution.