United States of America v. Sophie Dufort

Ocala, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341, conspiracy to defraud the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371, and payment of illegal kickbacks, in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1320.

Sophie Dufort, age 57, or Gainesville, Florida, , conspired with Paula Pirone, 70, of Ocala, Florida, and others to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare based on fake doctors’ prescriptions for orthotic braces.

Dufort and her co-conspirators illegally purchased these prescriptions from purported marketing companies that engaged in high pressure and manipulative telemarketing calls to get Medicare beneficiaries’ information. When confronted with complaints that the voice on purported call recordings did not match the beneficiaries’ voice, one co-conspirator explained that “some of the calls from overseas would be faked” and used to justify a bogus prescription. The marketing companies then paid medical practitioners to sign prescriptions for orthotic braces without contacting or evaluating the patients, or stole doctor’s credentials to create forged prescriptions, and then sold those prescriptions to Dufort’s and her co-conspirators’ DME companies.

Dufort and her co-conspirators then shipped braces to the Medicare beneficiaries and billed Medicare for millions of dollars in claims, despite the fact that the beneficiaries did not want or need the braces and no doctor had examined the beneficiary to determine if they needed the braces. And, as one medical expert testified, use of these combinations of braces could be “very dangerous” for the elderly Medicare population. When people complained and wanted to return the braces, “they would just tell [them] to just get rid of them or . . . just pass them down” so Dufort and her co-conspirators would not have to pay Medicare back.

The defendant was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, two counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to offer and pay illegal kickbacks, and one count of offering and paying illegal kickbacks. Dufort faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, 10 years in prison for each health care fraud count and kickback count, and 5 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and to offer and pay illegal kickbacks.