OKLAHOMA CITY – State and federal agencies have resolved two instances in which funds intended for elderly citizens was misappropriated. Both cases lend credence to the proverbial axiom that crime doesn’t pay.
Betty Kristen Corrine Meadows, 38, of Pawhuska admitted stealing money from a nursing home resident, and David Lehman of Oklahoma City paid nearly $123,000 to settle civil allegations that he acquired and spent Social Security benefits to which he was not entitled.
Meadows confessed she stole approximately $150 from a Barnsdall Nursing Home resident’s room and spent the money at a Dollar General store. She pleaded guilty to a felony charge of financial exploitation by a caretaker; a second felony count, larceny from a house, was dismissed.
Osage County District Judge Stuart Tate sentenced Meadows on April 7. She received a four-year deferred prison sentence; however, 30 days are to be served in the Osage County Jail on weekends, from 6 p.m. Fridays to 6 a.m. Mondays, starting April 23. She was ordered to surrender her nursing license, pay a $500 court fund assessment plus $250 to the Victim Compensation Fund, pay court costs of $486.50 and the costs of her incarceration at $29 per day. In addition, Meadows will be on probation for four years after completing her jail sentence, and was commanded to have no job that involves care of elderly or vulnerable adults while on probation. Thus, her theft of about $150 will cost Ms. Meadows 30 days in jail and four years of probation, more than $2,100 in costs and assessments, whatever fees her two attorneys will charge, and the loss of a professional license.
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s investigation of the incident began a year ago after a referral was received from the Oklahoma State Department of Health – Protective Health Services Long Term Care when the nursing home resident reported the theft.
The case was investigated by MFCU agents and was prosecuted by state assistant attorneys general. The Attorney General has statewide jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute violations of state and federal laws pertaining to provider fraud in the administration of the Medicaid program. It also investigates and prosecutes cases of abuse, neglect, drug diversion and financial exploitation involving residents in long-term board and care facilities and in residential care settings in some circumstances.
David Lehman paid $122,949 to settle civil False Claims Act allegations that he obtained and used Social Security benefits to which he was not entitled, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester announced on April 11.
The government alleged that from April 2013 through March 2019, Social Security benefits were deposited into the bank account of a deceased Social Security recipient. The Social Security benefits would not have been paid had the United States been notified of the beneficiary’s death.
Lehman had access to the beneficiary’s bank account and withdrew the Social Security benefits for his own use, Troester said. To resolve the allegations, Lehman agreed to the six-figure payment to the federal government.
In reaching the settlement, Lehman did not admit liability and the government did not make any concessions about the legitimacy of the claims. The agreement allows the parties to avoid the delay, expense, inconvenience and uncertainty involved in litigating the case, Troester said.
The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General-Office of Investigations.