A 63-year-old New Orleans woman has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for her part in a $3.2 million Medicare fraud and kickback scheme. She was also ordered to pay $277,000 in restitution, according to federal prosecutors. She was convicted in November and sentenced Wednesday in…
Federal authorities have charged the pastor of a Texas megachurch and a Louisiana financial planner with defrauding elderly investors out of more than $1 million. The two men were charged Friday with six counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering, as well as one count of conspiracy…
A 70-year-old Miami man was convicted of illegally steering state-court defendants to a corrupt clinic, which in turned fraudulently billed Medicare for more than $63 million. He was sentenced to five years in prison, plus three years of supervised release. And he must pay back a staggering $9.9 million in…
A Fort Lauderdale eye doctor received a 17-year sentence in February for apparently stealing $73 million from Medicare by persuading elderly patients to undergo excruciating tests and treatments they didn’t need for diseases they didn’t have. The man was convicted of 67 crimes including health care fraud, submitting false claims,…
A Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested Tuesday after officials claim she got into a physical altercation with her wife. The alleged incident happened on March 3 at their home. The alleged 29-year-old victim told officials that her 29-year-old wife forcibly restrained her, causing minor injuries, several times that day…
A Windermere man was found guilty Tuesday of raping a woman he was accused of drugging and taking pictures of. The man was found guilty after just a two-day trial. Jurors deliberated for several hours Tuesday before finding him guilty of attempted sexual battery and sexual battery. The investigation into…
A 27-year-old Florida man was arrested Thursday on a pimping charge during an undercover Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office investigation. The man is charged with living off the earnings of a prostitute, cocaine possession and transporting a person for prostitution. Jacksonville police were apparently digging into online ads for escorts when they…
A 33-year-old youth softball coach from Auburndale is facing charges of having sex with a minor. The 33-year-old was taken into custody Friday after authorities talked to the 17-year-old girl. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Lakeland girl told authorities she had consensual sex with the man in…
Two 12-year-olds have been charged with cyberstalking in connection with the death of a middle school student in Panama City Beach, who committed suicide two weeks ago. The arrests came as the result of an investigation by Panama City Beach Police into the mitigating circumstances around her death on Jan.…
A former Tampa police officer was arrested on drug trafficking charges this week in Polk County, along with two other men. The 66-year-old man and two others, 37 and 24, were arrested during an undercover drug transaction on Thursday, Jan. 10. The 66-year-old bonded out of jail Saturday, while the…