MIAMI – The grimy streets of Miami saw justice served as Julio Arsenio Rodriguez, a 62-year-old Hialeah native, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud money laundering scheme. Rodriguez, who had fled to the Dominican Republic, was caught and returned to face charges.
The defendant had conspired with a network of South Florida clinics to bilk Medicare and Medicaid out of millions by submitting claims for non-existent durable medical equipment (DME) between August 2020 and August 2022. Rodriguez also served as the legal owner of several fictitious companies used to wash the illicit proceeds.
In March 2023, Rodriguez skipped a court appearance, leading to a federal warrant for his arrest. He was apprehended eight months later in the Dominican Republic, where he was attempting to set up businesses. Rodriguez surrendered to U.S. authorities in November 2023 and entered a guilty plea to money laundering conspiracy charges in January.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe; FBI Miami Field Office’s Jeffrey B. Veltri; HHS-OIG Miami Region’s Stephen Mahmood; and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the sentence. The U.S. Marshals Service, DEA Caribbean Division Financial Investigative Team, and other agencies played pivotal roles in Rodriguez’s capture and return to the United States.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Canzio prosecuted the case, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon managed asset forfeiture. Information on related court documents can be found on the District Court for the Southern District of Florida website at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 22-cr-20541.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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