A man from Texas was sentenced to 48 months imprisonment right after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to acquire data from a protected computer system.
Of the three defendants, Demetrius Cervantes from McKinney, TX, was charged with theft and misuse of protected health information (PHI). Prosecutors claimed the defendants illegally acquired access to an unnamed healthcare company’s EHR system, stole data, then repackaged that information to make false and bogus doctor orders, which were marketed to durable medical equipment providers and contractors. Allegedly, the defendants have received $1.4 million after selling the data, which they afterward utilized to buy high-value products including motor vehicles and jet skis.
This sentence communicates the message that PHI theft, fabricating physicians’ orders, and selling prescriptions will never be condoned in the Eastern District of Texas, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. This office will not stop going after those who prioritize profits instead of the patients and exploit the healthcare system to gain personal profits.
Amanda Lowry and Lydia Henslee, both from Texas, are the other two defendants named in the Sept. 11, 2019 federal indictment. Lowry pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to acquire data from a secured computer and will be sentenced at the end of this month.
In a superseding indictment, Henslee was charged with one count of conspiracy to illegally transfer, possess and utilize a means of identification and nine counts of illegally transmitting, possessing, and utilizing a means of identification. Last March, Henslee pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to possess and use a means of identification connected with different offenses and is going to be sentenced at the end of this year, though there is no sentencing date yet.
Henslee was likewise accused in another superseding indictment together with Daniel Stadtman of Allen, Texas, Samson Solomon of Palm Beach, Florida, David Warren, and Steven Churchill of Boca Raton, Florida. The defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit illegal remunerations. Allegedly, the defendants were engaged in conspiring to pay and obtain kickbacks in return for doctor orders that were utilized to get payments from federal healthcare programs. There is a total of about $2.9 million is supposed to have been unlawfully acquired in a period of 8 months.
In case found guilty on the charges, the four men will face up to 5 years in prison while Henslee will face up to 15 years of jail term.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, and Defense Criminal Investigative Service investigated the cases.
