Lexington peer support specialist pleads guilty to fraudulent billing
A former peer support specialist at a Lexington sober living home pleaded guilty to a federal charge of health care fraud for unnecessary billings to Medicaid.
Ernest Williams, of Lexington, entered a guilty plea Nov. 25 in federal court for his role in a scheme that fraudulently billed $20 million in Medicaid for unlawful urine tests.
Williams worked as a peer support specialist for Serenity Keepers, also referred to as Serenity Keeper’s in the court record. Williams also helped bill for services that were not provided to clients at the facility, according to court documents.
He is one of four named in the original indictment including Delores Jordan, 56, of Charlotte, N.C.; her son Deshawn Dawkins, of Lexington; and Jordan’s boyfriend Jerome Davis, of Indianapolis, according to the indictment filed in November 2024.
Sober-living homes are places where people in recovery from substance-use disorder can stay and receive services such as counseling.
Williams plea comes a week after the facility’s owner, Jordan, pleaded guilty to a count of charging a kickback conspiracy.
The indictment charges that in August 2019, Jordan started soliciting kickbacks to refer urine samples to drug testing laboratories that could be billed to Medicaid and Medicare.
The billing for the tests was fraudulent because the tests were not used for medical diagnosis or treatment, and Jordan knew that, according to the original complaint.
Williams performed the urine tests on the residents of the homes he operated, knowing that the tests were not ordered by a medical provider.
Medicaid and Medicare reimburse providers for tests that are used in medical treatment, but not for tests that are used for nonmedical purposes, such as testing for the use of drugs.
Serenity Keepers caused about $20 million in unnecessary drug testing to be billed to Medicaid between August 2019 and March 2022, and another $670,000 to Medicare, according to court documents.
Williams also billed Medicaid for peer support services that were not provided, according to the court documents. Williams recorded that the clients living in the sober living home received six hours of peer support services a day, knowing it was not true.
Between August 2019 and March 2022, Williams received $365,374, a percentage of the amount billed for Medicaid for the homes he managed.
Williams faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 19, 2026.
Jordan faces up to five years in prison.
Dawkins is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and kickback conspiracy. Davis is charged with a kickback conspiracy.
Dawkins faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, and Davis could get up to five years, according to a news release.
A trial is scheduled for Dec. 8, 2025, at 9 a.m. in Lexington. It is expected to last 10 days.
