United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

OWNER OF COUNSELING SERVICE ADMITS DEFRAUDING MEDICAID

A woman who owned and operated a counseling services business in Dallas pled guilty today in federal court to one count of health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Dolores Johnson, 53, faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution. She is scheduled to be sentenced on August 15, 2007 by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade.

Johnson owned and operated Gracious Steps Counseling Center and was an approved Texas Medicaid care provider. She admitted that in January 2003 through August 2004, she and others defrauded Medicaid by submitting claims for services allegedly provided to Medicaid beneficiaries through the School Health and Related Services (SHARS) program. Gracious Steps Counseling Center submitted a fraudulent school district affiliation agreement to Medicaid in order to participate in the SHARS program and admits that the counseling services were never provided to the named beneficiaries. Johnson admitted that she, and other participants, caused Medicaid to pay more than $250,591 in fraudulent claims to the Gracious Steps Counseling Center’s business account at Washington Mutual.

In a related case, Tommy Clyde Ransom II, 36, of Dallas, pled guilty earlier this year to one count of health care fraud and in fact, it was the investigation of Tommy Clyde Ransom that led to the criminal charges filed against Dolores Johnson. Ransom also owned and operated a counseling services business in Dallas, called Crossroads Community Outreach Center, and was also an approved Texas Medicaid care provider. Ransom admitted that from March 2002 through May 2004, he and others defrauded Medicaid by submitting fraudulent claims to Medicaid for payment of counseling services allegedly provided to Medicaid beneficiaries through the SHARS program. Ransom’s fraud caused Medicaid to pay $2,084,562 in fraudulently obtained proceeds to his Crossroad’s account at Resource One Credit Union. Ransom is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2, 2007 by U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the excellent investigative work of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s Office - Medicaid Fraud Unit and said, “These cases are the culmination of a thorough investigation conducted by General Abbott’s Medicaid Fraud Unit. Our cooperative efforts with the Attorney General’s office are crucial to ferreting out and prosecuting these type of cases.” Roper continued, “These prosecutions should serve as a warning to all who would attempt to defraud our state’s Medicaid system that we will find them and they will pay the price.”

The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Bridget Eyler. The investigation remains ongoing.

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