July 14, 2015

Former Hospice Medical Director Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Health Care Fraud

PITTSBURGH—A former resident of McMurray, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 33 months’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release and to pay $311,996.00 in restitution on his conviction of health care fraud, to run concurrently with a prior sentence, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Oliver W. Herndon, 43, formerly of 311 Braeburn Drive, McMurray, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, Herndon was the medical director for Horizons Hospice, LLC. In that position, he defrauded Medicare and Medicaid by falsely certifying that patients were appropriate for hospice care.

Assistant United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Baxter prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Health and Human Services—Office of Inspector General and the Medicaid Fraud Control Section of the Office of Attorney General for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Herndon.