Keeble Lovall, Medicare Fraud, Texas 2018

HOUSTON, TX – Keeble Lovall, 46, of Houston, is headed to federal prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Miller, sends a clear message: ripping off the system comes with a steep price.

Lovall, the former owner of Your Health EMS, pleaded guilty on July 31, 2018, throwing in the towel after just two days of testimony and ten witnesses took the stand. The evidence painted a damning picture of a calculated scheme to bilk Medicare and Medicaid out of over a million dollars.

Between September 2011 and May 2012, Lovall knowingly submitted false claims for ambulance transports that were either never provided or weren’t medically necessary. The fraud wasn’t limited to simple overbilling. Lovall’s operation routinely packed multiple patients into a single ambulance and then billed Medicare and Medicaid as if each received individual transport – a blatant attempt to maximize profits at taxpayer expense.

The scheme extended to unauthorized transports to Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHPs), which Medicare doesn’t cover via ambulance. Lovall also brazenly billed for transports where no medical necessity existed, essentially sending ambulances for routine rides and sticking the bill to the federal government. The total fraudulent billing reached approximately $2,835,930, with Medicare directly depositing around $1,063,913.58 into Your Health EMS’s account.

Judge Miller didn’t mince words, stating the 63-month sentence, followed by three years of supervised release, was appropriate “to deter future health care fraud.” Lovall was allowed to remain on bond and will voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, the location of which will be determined shortly. This case is a stark reminder that healthcare fraud isn’t a victimless crime – it drains vital resources from a system already stretched thin.

The investigation was a collaborative effort, spearheaded by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Texas Attorney General’s Office, IRS – Criminal Investigation, FBI, and the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rodolfo Ramirez and Zahra Jivani Fenelon successfully prosecuted the case, bringing Lovall’s fraudulent operation to a definitive end.

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