Texas Woman Sentenced For Possession And Use of Protected Health Information

According to information presented in court, Henslee, Amanda Lowry, and Demetrius Cervantes were named in a federal indictment on September 11, 2019, charging them with conspiracy to obtain information from a protected computer and conspiracy to unlawfully possess and use a means of identification. They are alleged to have breached a health care provider’s electronic health record (EHR) system in order to steal protected health information and personally identifiable information belonging to patients. This stolen information was then “repackaged” in the form of false and fraudulent physician orders and subsequently sold to durable medical equipment (DME) providers and contractors. The defendants obtained more than $1.4 million in proceeds from the sale of the stolen information. The defendants then used those proceeds to purchase items such as sport utility vehicles, off-road vehicles, and jet skis.

Cervantes was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison on July 8, 2021.  Lowry was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison on July 22, 2021.

An Acting U.S. Attorney stated with regard to the sentencing of the defendants, “Not only did the defendants’ actions in this scheme compromise sensitive information, but they also stole the peace of mind of their victims. Today’s sentence represents the serious consequences of identity theft and should serve as a warning to others who seek to profit from it.”

Henslee was also charged in a separate superseding indictment along with Steven Churchill, 34, of Boca Raton, Florida, Samson Solomon, 23, of West Palm Beach, Florida, David Warren, 50, of Boca Raton, Florida, and Daniel Stadtman, 67, of Allen, Texas, with one count of conspiracy to commit illegal remunerations.

According to the superseding indictment, the defendants are alleged to have conspired to pay and receive kickbacks in exchange for orders from physicians that were subsequently used to obtain payments from federal health care programs. The conspirators obtained patient information, including protected health information and personally identifiable information, and used the information to create fictitious physician orders. The conspirators then sold the physicians’ orders to each other and to other DME providers. Within approximately eight months, the defendants collectively obtained more than $2.9 million in proceeds from the criminal scheme.

Source

If you have information regarding false claims having been submitted to Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, other federal health care programs, or to other federal agencies/programs, and the information is not publically known and no actions have been taken by the government with regard to recovering the false claims, you should promptly consult with a False Claims Act attorney (also known as qui tam attorneys) in your U.S. state who may investigate the basis of your False Claims Act allegations and who may also assist you in bringing a qui tam lawsuit on behalf of the United States, if appropriate, for which you may be entitled to receive a portion of the recovery received by the U.S. government.