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Press Release

Two Nurses Plead Guilty to Health Care Fraud

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that ERICA EDWARDS, age 31, of New Orleans, and JEFF KOON, age 43, of Lockport, each pleaded guilty today to one count of health care fraud.

On April 21, 2016, EDWARDS and KOON were charged along with 12 other defendants in a 31-count superseding indictment charging approximately $30,252,906 in Medicare fraud. According to court documents, EDWARDS and KOON worked as RNs for ABIDE. Their duties included assessing the status of their patients, initiating a plan of care, evaluating patient needs, providing comprehensive nursing care, among other things. KOON and EDWARDS pleaded guilty to fraudulently recertifying patients for home health by recording false changes in medications and exacerbations in medication conditions that did not occur and falsely documented that patients were homebound.

EDWARDS and KOON each face a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following imprisonment. U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan set sentencing for February 1, 2017.

U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrice Harris Sullivan, Sharan Lieberman, and Hayden Brockett are in charge of the prosecution.

Updated July 20, 2016

Topic
Health Care Fraud