Amidst the Government Shutdown, the United States Attorney’s Office Continues Efforts to Combat Waste, Fraud and Abuse

United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced that while the Government was shut down, the United States Attorney’s Office continued to work important cases focused on those who take advantage of our communities through Fraud, Waste and Abuse. The following are impactful cases that have occurred during the shutdown.

Wenatchee, WA- Wenatchee Man Sentenced to Thirty Months Imprisonment for Aggravated Identity Theft and False Statements in Passport Application. On September 24, 2025, District Court Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Brandon Wilkerson, of Wenatchee, Washington, to thirty months in prison for aggravated identity theft and false statements on a passport application. As set out in court documents, in October 2021, Wilkerson attempted to get a passport in his name but was denied in January 2022 because he was subject to a pending state warrant of arrest for felony unlawful possession of a firearm under Washington state law. In March 2022, Wilkerson stole his brother’s identity and applied for a passport under his brother’s name which was subsequently approved unknowing of the fraud. Wilkerson then used the passport to travel to Brazil, where he married a Brazilian national under his brother’s name. Wilkerson subsequently applied for legal status for the Brazilian national, again falsely and fraudulently using his brother’s name. Wilkerson was Indicted for this offense on March 19, 2024, and later placed into custody after violating the terms of his pre-trial release for committing a new criminal offense. The full press release is located here.

Yakima, WA - Coeur d’Alene Physician Found Guilty in Telemarketing Medicare Fraud Conspiracy. On September 29, 2025, a federal jury found Dr. David Antonio Becerril, age 69, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and formerly of Selah, Washington, guilty of sixteen (16) felony counts of conspiracy, health care fraud, and false statements in connection with Dr. Becerril’s participation in a telemarketing health care fraud scheme. Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian presided over the trial, which began on September 22, 2025. At sentencing, which is set for January 20, 2026, Dr. Becerril faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison. According to evidence presented at trial and court documents, between February 2018 and September 2019, Dr. Becerril,
a licensed Washington physician, participated in a scheme and conspiracy to obtain millions of dollars by falsely billing Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic tests and durable medical equipment, including back, knee, shoulder, and ankle braces. The evidence at trial showed that Dr. Becerril signed false and fraudulent orders for genetic tests and braces for elderly Medicare beneficiaries that Dr. Becerril had never seen, spoken to, heard of, or had any contact with whatsoever, and which included deceased patients as well as elderly patients who had no limbs for the braces they were prescribed by Dr. Becerril. Dr. Becerril was paid per order he signed. In total, Medicare was billed over $3.2 million for the fraudulent prescriptions signed by Dr. Becerril. The full press release is located here.

Spokane, WA- Tri-Cities Urgent Care Clinic Agrees to Pay $2.8 Million to Resolve Claims of Overbilling for Diagnostic Tests. Health First Urgent Care, an urgent care clinic with locations in Richland and Pasco, Washington, has agreed to pay $2,807,729 to resolve claims that it fraudulently overbilled Medicare and Medicaid for diagnostic tests. According to the settlement agreement, a False Claims Act (FCA) claim arose from allegations that Health First Urgent Care fraudulently billed for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) respiratory and urinary tract infection panel testing. These panel tests were a predetermined group of medical tests used to test for multiple pathogens from a single sample obtained from a patient. The United States and State of Washington alleged that instead of billing for a single panel test, Health First Urgent Care improperly “unbundled” the panel test and billed for each individual test comprising the panel. This resulted in overbilling to Medicare and Medicaid programs. In addition, the State of Washington alleged that Health First Urgent Care improperly billed for panel tests that were more expensive and not medically necessary for individual patients, such as patients presenting with symptoms of Covid-19. The full press release is located here.

Spokane, WA- Spokane Valley Couple Sentenced on Fraud Convictions in Connection to COVID-19 Relief Loan. On October 8, 2025, United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Raymond and Jennifer Hilderbrand, ages 55 and 54, of Spokane Valley, Washington. Earlier this year, the Hilderbrands were found guilty at a jury trial on multiple fraud charges. Raymond Hilderbrand was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison; Jennifer Hilderbrand was sentenced to time served. Both Raymond and Jennifer Hilderbrand will be on supervised release for three years and are required to pay $363,000 in restitution. The full press release is located here.

Spokane, WA- Othello Man Convicted by Federal Jury of Odometer Tampering
On October 1, 2025, a federal jury in Spokane, Washington, convicted Reynaldo Garza, age 53, of Othello, Washington, of five felony counts of Odometer Tampering. After a thorough investigation by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, the evidence at trial established that Garza would purchase high-mileage used cars for cheap. Garza would replace the odometers in the vehicles with an odometer purchased from wrecking yards or used auto parts sellers. The new odometer would display many fewer miles than the original. Garza then sold the vehicles under the false and fraudulent representation that they had fewer miles than was true. In some cases, Garza sold cars by misrepresenting the mileage by up to 100,000 miles less than it the actual mileage. In other cases, the difference was tens of thousands of miles. In doing so, Garza made thousands of dollars in profits for each fraudulent sale. The full press release is located here.