Two Lawtonians have been indicted in Oklahoma City’s Western District federal court in connection with the U.S.
Justice Department’s 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.
Stewart Johnson, 72, and his son, Stephen Michael Johnson, 47, are named in 43 charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in a scheme to defraud TRICARE of more than $27 million.
TRICARE is a health care program of the U.S. Department of Defense Military Health System that provides coverage for active-duty service members, retirees, their families, and survivors.
The Defense Health Agency oversees and administers TRICARE.
Johnson Medical Consulting, d/b/a Combined Home Medical Equipment (CHME), was advertised as a “locally owned and operated” durable medical equipment company in the 2500 block of Southwest Lee Boulevard in Lawton.
Their company offered Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (“CPAP”) machines, as well as patient home beds, orthopedic supports, and other medical devices and equipment.
Both men are identified in court records as “a respiratory care practitioner and managing operator” of CHME.
It is alleged that from January 2018 through December 2024, the Johnsons submitted more than 27,700 fraudulent claims to TRICARE for reimbursement for almost 653,000 “face-to-face” CPAP-related services that they “did not provide and were not qualified to provide.”
TRICARE beneficiaries in the Lawton area – including active-duty military personnel – who were diagnosed with sleep apnea were often “referred by their physicians” to CHME for CPAP machines.
The Johnsons submitted claims to TRICARE under CPT Code 94660 which “fraudulently represented that Combined “continued to regularly provide face-to-face CPAP-related services” to TRICARE beneficiaries even though the patients “rarely or sometimes never” returned to Combined. The Johnsons submitted claims that “fraudulently represented that Combined provided face-to-face CPAP-related services” to TRICARE patients “nearly every day each month,” investigators discovered.
Moreover, CHME “did not employ a physician who satisfied the TRICARE provider requirements” for billing CPT Code 94660, the indictment alleges.
A TRICARE beneficiary identified as “G.C.” received a CPAP machine from Combined in January 2019.
Between then and in August 2023, G.C. returned to CHME
_________________ “approximately three or four times” to get additional CPAP supplies.
The Johnsons, though, submitted more than three dozen invoices to TRICARE which falsely claimed they provided in-person CPAP services to G.C. 875 times from October 2019 to September 2023, the indictment alleges.
Moreover, from June 2021 to June 2022, G.C. was then an active-duty service member and “was continuously deployed out of the country.” Even so, the Johnsons submitted 12 invoices to TRICARE that fraudulently claimed they provided in-person services to G.C. approximately 290 times “while he was deployed” overseas.
Another TRICARE beneficiary, identified only as R.H., received a CPAP machine from CHME in January 2023. The patient used the machine for approximately two months “and then stopped and never returned to Combined,” the indictment relates. Nevertheless, the Johnsons submitted 17 invoices to TRICARE which falsely claimed Combined provided face-to-face CPAP services to R.H. “approximately 379 times” between March 2023 and March 2024.”
Another TRICARE patient, J.T., received a CPAP machine from combined in June 2019 and used it regularly. J.T. returned to CHME approximately once every 15 months to get additional supplies for his machine. The Johnsons, though, submitted 71 invoices that fraudulently claimed Combined provided face-to-face services to J.T. “approximately 1,605 times between September 2019 and March 2024,” the indictment alleges.
In the four counts of money laundering for which Stephen Johnson was indicted, the grand jury alleged that on one occasion in 2023, and three occasions in 2024, he transferred $305,996 in fraudulently obtained funds from his personal bank account to American Express to “pay down” his credit card balance.
Similarly, the money laundering charge against Stewart Johnson alleges that on Nov. 12, 2024, he transferred $43,240.77 in fraudulently obtained funds from his personal bank account to American Express to pay down his card balance.
Besides the numerous indictments, the federal government filed a forfeiture application against the Johnsons, seeking:
•A money judgment of $27,017,516.
•$1,559,779 in U.S. currency in three bank accounts, a credit union account, and three American Express accounts.
A “premium” golf cart.
•Four pickup trucks.
•A “muscle car.”
•Four sport utility vehicles.
•One motorcycle valued at $17,000 to $35,000.
•A four-wheeler and a utility vehicle.
•Real estate located at 4 SW Deyo Mission Road, 903 SW 78th Street, and 602 SW Eden Place, all in Lawton.
Stewart Johnson reportedly was on vacation in Colorado when he was arrested. He faced his first court appearance in Colorado’s Denver District federal court before his case was reassigned to Oklahoma City’s federal district court; a federal public defender was assigned to his case.
Stephen Johnson was arraigned, pleaded not guilty, and was released from custody on a $200,000 unsecured appearance bond; his case is set for the Aug. 11 jury docket.
The maximum penalty for conviction of conspiracy to commit ware fraud, and for wire fraud, is 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The penalty for money laundering is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
“The Defense Criminal Investigative Service is committed to protecting TRICARE, the U.S. Military’s health care program, from fraudulent schemes that harm its beneficiaries and waste critical taxpayer-provided resources,” said Special Agent in Charge Chad Gosch, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General.
“Fraud against federal health care programs ultimately harms both taxpayers and the individuals these programs are designed to serve,” Western District U.S. Attorney Robert Troester said.