A Georgia man was sentenced to over four years in prison after defrauding an Arizona Medicaid agency, officials said.
Kenneth Terrell Harrison, 45, will serve 52 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.
In addition to the time served, Harrison was ordered to pay over $6.5 million in restitution to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS).
How did the man defraud the Arizona Medicaid agency?
Prosecutors said Harrison acknowledged owning Autism LLC, an outpatient behavioral health counseling service located in Mesa.
In 2019, Aurtism applied to be a medical provider for AHCCCS. However, while applying, Harrison said that he did not mention that he was the major owner of Aurtism because he was concerned that AHCCCS would deny the application because of his criminal history.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Harrison also engaged in fraudulent billing practices against AHCCCS.
In January 2020, Harrison began getting AHCCCS enrollee identity numbers and invoicing them through Aurtism for services they never got. Some of the numbers came from residents who attended Autism, while others were obtained fraudulently.
Prosecutors pointed out that nearly all of the enrollees Harrison billed were members of the American Indian Health Plan.
From January 2020 to October 2021, Harrison fraudulently billed AHCCCS for more than $6.5 million.
Prosecutors claim that at Harrison’s sentencing, the judge recognized the impact the deception caused to vulnerable groups in Arizona.
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