Owner Sentenced to More than 27 Years in Prison for Multi- Million Dollar Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme Involving Sober Homes and Alcohol and Drug Addiction Treatment Centers

May 17, 2017 |  Investigations Press Release

Two owners of sober homes and alcohol and drug addiction treatment centers were sentenced to 27 and 3 years in prison, respectively, for their participation in a multi-million dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme that involved the filing of fraudulent insurance claim forms and defrauded health care benefit programs.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, Jeff Atwater, Florida Chief Financial Officer, William D. Snyder, Sheriff Martin County Sheriff's Office, George L. Dorsett, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, Amtrak Office of Inspector General, Isabel Colon, Regional Director, United States Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL-EBSA), and Dennis Russo, Director of Operations, National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), made the announcement.

After hearing victim impact statements from a number of parents whose children suffered fatal and nonfatal overdoses, U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks sentenced Kenneth Chatman, a/k/a “Kenny,” 46, of Boynton Beach, to 330 months in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Chatman was also ordered to register as a sex offender. He had previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349; conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h); and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1594(c). His wife, Laura Chatman, 44, of Boynton Beach, was sentenced by Judge Middlebrooks to 36 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, after having pled guilty to two counts of making a false statement related to a health care matter, in violation of Title18, United States Code, Section 1035(a)(1).

Tracking Number