Tulsa Man Sentenced To Time Served, $83,000 Restitution For Health Care Fraud

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that STEVEN WILLIAM DELIA, age 62, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was sentenced to imprisonment, time served, 3 years supervised release, and ordered to pay $83,769.27 in restitution to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority for HEALTH CARE FRAUD, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1347.

The defendant was found guilty of Health Care Fraud by a federal trial jury on September 29, 2016. The Indictment alleged that beginning on February 1, 2010 and continuing through November 9, 2010, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere the defendant, knowingly and willfully, with the intent to defraud, devised and executed a scheme to defraud the Oklahoma Medicaid program by causing the filing of false claims and receiving Medicaid payments for medical services not rendered by a qualified medical professional.

The Information further alleged that on or about the February 1, 2010 and continuing through November 9, 2010 in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, knowingly and willfully executed and attempted to execute the above-described scheme and artifice to defraud money and property owned by and under the custody and control of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, a health benefit program as defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 24(b), in connection with the payment for health care benefits, items and services.

In preparation for deployment to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army Reserves, the defendant pre-signed approximately 9,000 blank prescriptions for his unsupervised physician's assistant and nursing staff to disseminate Schedule II narcotics during his absence from the Delia Medical Clinic in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. A percentage of those office visits and prescriptions were billed to Medicaid, causing the filing of false claims and receiving Medicaid payments for medical services not rendered by a qualified medical professional.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General. The Honorable James H. Payne, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the sentencing. Assistant United States Attorney Melody Nelson represented the United States.