Former Kentucky pharmacist gets prison time in Medicare fraud, must repay $730,055
A former Kentucky pharmacy owner who overbilled taxpayer-funded health programs by $730,000 has been sentenced to 20 months in federal prison.
Stephanie Collins pleaded guilty to a charge of health care fraud.
Collins, 57, began working as a pharmacist in southeastern Kentucky in 1990 and owned Stephanie’s Down Home Pharmacy in Corbin from 2011 to 2020, according to the court record.
She admitted that between between June 2014 and June 2020, her pharmacy billed Medicaid and Medicare for prescriptions that customers didn’t pick up, resulting in fraudulent payments totaling $627,614.
Collins also charged the programs for diabetes test strips that cost more than the ones she gave to customers, resulting in overpayment of $102,441, according to the court record.
Collins agreed as part of her guilty plea to repay a total of $730,055 to Medicaid and Medicare and to give up her license to be a pharmacist.
Collins agreed to liquidate bank accounts and retirement accounts that would cover most of the restitution, and also to sell a piece of property in Laurel County.
The advisory sentencing guidelines called for a prison sentence between 24 to 30 months for Collins.
Her attorney, Adam Clay Reeves, argued for a sentence below that range.
Collins suffered traumatic abuse as a child from alcoholic stepfathers and other family members, contributing to serious mental health issues, Reeves said.
That upbringing didn’t excuse her conduct, but helped explain it and justify a sentence below the advisory range, Reeves said.
Reeves also said Collins suffers from several health problems and helps care for her husband, who has debilitating health problems.
The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Smith, acknowledged reports of the challenges Collins faced as a child and an adult, but said none “provides a compelling justification for committing fraud.”
Smith noted that fraud is estimated to cost Medicare billions of dollars annually.
“Pharmacists should not contribute to this problem by siphoning money from taxpayer-funded programs for drugs they never give to their customers,” the prosecutor wrote.
U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom sentenced Collins Tuesday in federal court in London.
