Okreek Woman Pleads Guilty to False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters

US Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that Shirlee Anne Clothier, a/k/a Anne Shirlee Morrison, a/k/a Anne Bordeaux, a/k/a Shirlee Anne Bordeaux, age 58, of Okreek, South Dakota, appeared before US District Judge Lawrence L. Piersol on July 20, 2012, and pled guilty to one count of an indictment that charged her with False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 5 years' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both.

Between approximately January 1, 2010, and November 1, 2011, in South Dakota, Clothier presented herself under various aliases to multiple physicians and health care facilities. Each time, she complained of pain, and she sought prescriptions for morphine sulfate, a Schedule II controlled substance. She knowingly and falsely represented to each treating physician that she was not taking pain medications other than that which the particular physician had prescribed to her. She knew that she was actually receiving multiple overlapping prescriptions for the same medication.

The investigation was conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Kevin Koliner.

A presentence investigation was ordered, and a sentencing date was set for October 15, 2012. The defendant was released on bond pending sentencing.