Therapy provider sentenced to 4 years for Medicaid fraud

Local business owner scheduled to report to prison on May 31

An owner of a social services business with offices in Torrington and Bristol was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for defrauding Connecticut’s Medicaid program, according to a release.

A jury found Ronnette Brown, 45, of Bristol, guilty of 23 counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Brown has been released on $100,000 bail since her arrest and is scheduled to report to prison May 31, the release from the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Between August 2010 and April 2014, Brown, who owned and operated WeMPACT, billed Medicaid for psychotherapy services that were not performed. In addition, Brown separately conspired with Beverly Coker, of Windsor, and another, unnamed individual to bill Medicaid for psychotherapy services that represented Coker had performed the services when, in fact, the services were provided by unlicensed individuals or not provided at all, the release stated.

Coker, a licensed clinical social worker, owned and operated New Beginnings Family Center LLC in Hartford. Coker pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud, admitting that between October 2010 and November 2011, she engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicaid by allowing Brown and another individual to bill Medicaid for psychotherapy services using Coker’s Medicaid provider number, the release said.

Under the scheme, Coker kept 30 percent of the proceeds and paid the remaining 70 percent to Brown and the other individual. As part of her plea, Coker admitted to defrauding Medicaid of approximately $214,555 through the scheme, according the release.

The release said the judge ordered Brown to pay restitution in the amount of $2,033,962.

Coker awaits sentencing, and three other individuals have been charged and convicted of health care fraud offenses stemming from this investigation, the release said.