Pate was convicted in December 2018 of 33 counts of fraud, identity theft

AUGUSTA, GA:  The owner of a Thomson, Ga., medical equipment company was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison Tuesday, July 30, for a wide-ranging Medicare fraud scheme.

Detra Wiley Pate, owner and CEO of Southern Respiratory LLC, of Thomson, Ga., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randall Hall to 121 months in federal prison for multiple counts of health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud and aggravated identity theft, said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. She also was ordered to pay $950,000 in restitution and must serve three years of supervised release after completion of her sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Detra Wiley Pate had every opportunity to operate a successful, legitimate business serving the needs of the elderly and vulnerable in her community,” said U.S. Attorney Christine. “Instead, she got greedy and charged Medicare for expensive equipment patients neither needed nor received, using prescriptions doctors had not written. As an ironic result, she’ll grow old in prison while reflecting on her fraud.”  Read More – Source