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Date: 05-04-2023
Case Style:
Case Number: 3:22-cr-00469
Judge: Irma Carrillo Ramirez
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Dallas County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Dallas
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Dallas, Texas criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
Connie Jo Clampitt, age 52, admitted that she and her co-conspirators accessed private patient information – including names, dates of birth, and insurance subscriber numbers – through various clinics where one defendant worked as a contract lab technician.
They then used the patient information to submit claims to insurance providers – including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, United Healthcare, Aetna, Humana, and Molina Health Care – for COVID-19 testing that was never performed. (The patients had not requested COVID-19 testing, nor were they aware their information was being used to submit claims.)
Ms. Clampitt admitted that the “labs” at which the co-conspirators claimed the testing occurred, including TC Diagnostics, ME Diagnostics, and PHR Diagnostics, were, in fact, shell entities that never operated as labs. Collectively, these three entities submitted approximately $30 million in claims and were paid more than $7 million in reimbursements for fake testing.
Ms. Clampitt now faces up to five years in federal prison. According to the terms of her plea agreement, she has agreed to a $7.29 million forfeiture money judgment and will forfeit a number of items seized during the investigation, including $2.5 million in funds from numerous bank accounts, two residences, six vehicles, and six luxury watches.
Also charged in the scheme are Terrance Barnard, 39, William Paul Gray, 49, and Donn Hogg, 37. Mr. Barnard, Mr. Gray, and Mr. Hogg are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Dallas Regional Office of the United States Department of Labor – Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Dallas Office of the Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, the Texas Department of Insurance Fraud Unit's Fort Worth Field Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Hunter is prosecuting the case; Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitri Rocha is handling the forfeiture.
8 U.S.C. §§ 1347 and 2 Health Care Fraud and Aiding and Abetting
(1-10)
18 U.S.C. § 371 (18 U.S.C. § 1347) Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud
(1s)
18 U.S.C. § 1349 (18 U.S.C. § 1347) Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud
(11)
18 U.S.C. §§ 1028A and 2 Aggravated Identity Theft and Aiding and Abetting
(12-18)
18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(h), 1956(a)(l)(B)(i), and 1957 Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering
(19)
Outcome: 05/02/2023 59 ELECTRONIC Minute Entry for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez: Rearraignment Hearing as to Connie Jo Clampitt held on 5/2/2023. Plea entered by Connie Jo Clampitt (2) Guilty Count 1s. Attorney Appearances: AUSA - Donna Max; Defense - Garcia. (No exhibits) Time in Court - :17. (Court Reporter: Todd Anderson) (mcrd) (Entered: 05/02/2023)
05/02/2023 60 NOTICE/CONSENT REGARDING ENTRY OF A PLEA OF GUILTY as to Connie Jo Clampitt. (mcrd) (Entered: 05/02/2023)
05/02/2023 61 Report and Recommendation on Guilty Plea as to Connie Jo Clampitt. (Ordered by Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez on 5/2/2023) (mcrd) (Entered: 05/02/2023)
Defendant pled guilty.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: