Ex-pharmacist sentenced for medicare and Medicaid Fraud

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  • Ex-pharmacist sentenced
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OKLAHOMA CITY – The former owner of drug stores in Mangum and Granite was sentenced to prison and ordered to make nearly $1.1 million in restitution for his guilty plea to a state and federal health care fraud scheme.

Jeffrey Scott Terry, 38, of Mangum, was given a 37-month federal prison sentence for admitting he defrauded the federal Medicare program and the state Medicaid program.

According to the federal indictment, Terry was a licensed pharmacist who owned Bratton Drug in Mangum and Granite Drug Pharmacy in nearby Granite. Both the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), which administers Medicaid under the name SoonerCare, and the federal Medicare program reimbursed Bratton Drug for prescription drugs that it dispensed.

The indictment alleged that from August 2015 to September 2018, Terry submitted false claims to SoonerCare and Medicare Part D for drugs that had not actually been prescribed or dispensed to patients at Bratton Drug.

Terry submitted 550 fraudulent claims, court records indicate.

For example, he submitted to the OHCA 22 bogus claims from April 2017 through September 2018 for payments totaling $57,347 for a compounded drug that the pharmacist claimed he prepared for a 2-year-old child. But the youngster’s doctor told investigators he hadn’t prescribed the medication since February 2017.

And on Sept. 13, 2018, Terry submitted a claim for two prescriptions allegedly written by a physician at Lawton Indian Hospital for a patient identified in court records as “S.F.” Investigators learned that LIH “has no medical records on patient S.F.”

On Aug. 12, 2019, Terry entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk to one felony count relating to Medicaid and one felony count relating to Medicare.

In addition to the 37-month prison sentence, Palk also ordered Terry to complete 100 hours of community service. In announcing the sentence, the judge cited the nature and seriousness of the offense and the need to deter others from engaging in similar conduct.

Judge Palk also ordered Terry to pay $328,836 in restitution to SoonerCare and $753,334 to Medicare, for a total of $1,082,170. The judge also ordered Terry to forfeit real property in Greer County and a 2016 Dodge Challenger.

Separately the United States filed a civil action pursuant to the Anti-Fraud Injunction Statute and obtained an injunction to prohibit Terry from dissipating or alienating assets he accumulated as a result of the false claims.

The criminal charges were the result of an investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office’s and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, Office of Audit Services.

The Oklahoma Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award. The remaining 25% is funded through recoveries.

Assistant Oklahoma Attorney General Lory Dewey, who also serves as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Maxfield Green prosecuted the case against Terry. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda Johnson and Ron Gallegos of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Division handled the civil injunctive component of the case.