U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid has ordered Joseph Mayotte, who previously owned and operated Bradley Chiropractic Clinic, in Bradley, Illinois, to serve 33 months in prison, the sentence recommended by the government, and to pay restitution in the amount of $401,000 to Blue Cross Blue Shield and $93,526 to the Internal Revenue Service.
Mayotte was ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on December 17, 2019 to begin serving his sentence.
Mayotte entered pleas of guilty to the offenses charged on February 11, 2019 as jury selection was beginning for trial. Mayotte admitted that from January 2007 to October 2015, he submitted false billing claims to defraud Blue Cross Blue Shield. The false claims typically were made on behalf of patients for whom the clinic had not provided any services or were in excess of the actual services provided. As a result, Blue Cross Blue Shield paid the clinic money to which it was not entitled, which Mayotte then used for his own benefit.
In addition, Mayotte admitted that he failed to file federal income tax returns for tax years 2011 through 2014.
Prosecutors said that, in addition to Mayotte, the clinic's former office manager, Constance Leadingham, previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing false income tax returns, and was sentenced on March 1, 2019 to 12 months in federal prison. As the clinic's office manager, Leadingham admitted she submitted false billing claims, then wrote checks payable to herself from the clinic's checking account in addition to her salary. Leadingham also admitted that in addition to the fraud scheme, she filed false income tax returns for tax years 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].