IRS: Cyberthief Sentenced to Prison After Stealing Patients PHI
A Texas mas was sentenced to prison for stealing patients' private health information.
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By - A Texas mas was sentenced to prison on July 8 for stealing patients' private health information and going on shopping sprees, among other crimes, according to an IRS press release.
Demetrius Cervante, of McKinney, Texas, was sentenced for “federal violations in the Eastern district of Texas,” Acting US Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said in the press statement.
Cervante pleaded guilty on Dec. 4, 2020 “to conspiracy to obtain information from a protected computer on Dec. 4, 2020.” US District Judge Sean D. Jordan sentenced Cervante to 48 months in federal prison, the statement said.
"Today's sentence sends the message that the theft of protected health information, the fabrication of physicians' orders, and the sale of prescriptions will not be tolerated in the Eastern District of Texas," Ganjei said in the press release. "This office will continue to pursue those who place profits over patients and manipulate the healthcare system for their personal gain."
Cervantes, along with Amanda Lowry and Lydia Henslee, were named in the federal indictment on Sept. 11, 2019.
The trio is alleged to have “breached a health care provider's electronic health record (EHR) system in order to steal protected health information and personally identifiable information belonging to patients,” the statement noted.
“This stolen information was then ‘repackaged’ in the form of false and fraudulent physician orders and subsequently sold to durable medical equipment (DME) providers and contractors. The defendants obtained more than $1.4 million in proceeds from the sale of the stolen information. The defendants used those proceeds to purchase items such as sport utility vehicles, off-road vehicles and jet skis.”
Lowry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain information from a protected computer and is set to be sentenced on July 22.
Henslee was charged on November 18, 2020, in a ten-count superseding indictment. She was also charged in a separate superseding indictment along with Steven Churchill, of Boca Raton, Florida, Samson Solomon, of West Palm Beach, Florida, David Warren, of Boca Raton, Florida, and Daniel Stadtman, of Allen, Texas, the statement noted.
“According to the superseding indictment, the defendants are alleged to have conspired to pay and receive kickbacks in exchange for orders from physicians that were subsequently used to obtain payments from federal health care programs. The conspirators obtained patient information, including protected health information and personally identifiable information, and used the information to create fictitious physician orders. The conspirators then sold the physicians' orders to each other and to other DME providers. Within approximately eight months, the defendants collectively obtained more than $2.9 million in proceeds from the criminal scheme.”
If convicted, the defendants each face up to five years in federal prison, according to the statement.
Henslee plead guilty on March 25 and is awaiting sentencing, according to the statement.
These cases were investigated by the US Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and the US Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
They are being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld and Adrian Garcia and Special Assistant US Attorney Bethany Pickett.
