Alexis C. Norman, a woman from Texas, has been sentenced to an additional 30 years in prison for her involvement in a Medicaid fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
The sentencing comes three years into serving an eight-year sentence for health care fraud, to which Norman pleaded guilty in December. The new sentence will run concurrent to her original one.
Norman was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud. Three of the counts were committed before she was sentenced in the prior case, and one was committed while she was behind bars.
According to plea papers, Norman approached co-conspirator Karen Jones in February 2015 with a business idea she hoped could help pay legal fees from her previous case. Jones agreed to help Norman by listing herself as the administrator of Janus Children Services, Inc., opening a bank account in Janus’ name, and leasing office space for Janus in Tyler, Texas.
The company never occupied the office space, never hired any employees, and never provided any services. Together, Norman and Jones used stolen identities of licensed counselors and Medicaid recipients to submit more than $810,000 in fraudulent claims to Medicaid, and were paid more than $427,000.
After Medicaid paid Janus for the false claims, Norman directed Jones to withdraw cash from the Janus bank account, always in amounts less than $10,000. Roughly once a month from April 2015 to February 2016, the pair would meet at a restaurant. When they finished their meal, Jones – who carried the cash in a gift bag – would leave the package on a chair for Norman.
Following Norman’s incarceration in April 2016, Jones agreed to help Norman submit additional fraudulent claims through a second company, Therapeutic Outreach Services Inc. Jones helped Norman lease office space for Therapeutic in Waco, Texas, and visited Norman in prison on multiple occasions to gather billing instructions and identifying information of counselors and Medicaid clients. Norman concealed the information on a piece of paper hidden in her shoe, which she retrieved during Jones’ visits.
Like Janus, Therapeutic never operated out of the Waco location, had no employees, and provided no services. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Brasher and DOJ Trial Attorney Christina Liu are prosecuting the case.
Norman’s real full name is Alexis C. Norman, and the exact criminal charges against her are one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud. The city and state where the crime occurred are Tyler and Texas. The exact date of the crime is between February 2015 and February 2016. Norman was sentenced to an additional 30 years in prison, which will run concurrent to her original eight-year sentence.
The dollar amounts involved in the fraud scheme are $810,000 in fraudulent claims and $427,000 in payments. The companies involved in the scheme are Janus Children Services, Inc. and Therapeutic Outreach Services Inc.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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