Therapist, 45, sentenced in Medicaid fraud case
Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2008
A Pulaski County Circuit judge fined a 45-year-old Conway speech therapist more than $ 200, 000 and sentenced her to six years in prison Monday for stealing more than $ 68, 000 from Medicaid.
Judge John Langston suspended half the sentence, saying Anna Walthall would have to repay the money, a total of $ 274, 611, or serve out the full prison term.
Walthall, who had no criminal record, was eligible for probation, Langston said, but he ordered prison time because the amount of the money stolen. Walthall will be eligible for parole after serving six months.
According to court files, Walthall, through her company, Great Expectations Therapy Training Inc. of Conway, billed Medicaid for children’s therapy services that she didn’t perform. The children were actually at other Medicaid providers, like dentists and doctors, at the same time Walthall claimed she was treating them at an unlicensed Little Rock day care, “Nu Nu’s Daycare,” between August 2004 through May 2006, according to court filings.
Authorities believe she might have cheated the federal health program out of as much as $ 252, 641, but acknowledged they could only easily prove she had embezzled $ 68, 653, court records show. Problems with Walthall’s record keeping were discovered during an audit by the state Department of Health and Human Services, which reported that many of the files Walthall was required to keep were missing or incomplete, with 16 clients having no documentation.
Walthall, a mother of six, had been charged with Medicaid fraud, failure to maintain patient records and 30 counts of seconddegree forgery, with each count representing a forged referral for a different child. Prosecutors dropped the forgery charges last month in exchange for her guilty plea to the fraud and records charges. Walthall agreed to leave sentencing up to the judge.
At Monday’s sentencing hearing, defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig told the judge that Walthall had overcome much adversity to earn her master’s degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Central Arkansas while raising four children from a previous marriage to adulthood. She has two children, ages 6 and 4, with her current husband, Brooks Walthall.
Rosenzweig told the judge that Anna Walthall’s intentions were always good, saying that she didn’t intentionally defraud the government. He described his client as “naive and trusting,” suggesting that she had been taken advantage of by the daycare owner.
“She has no defense... other than to help a child,” Rosenzweig told the judge.
Deputy Attorney General Josh Standifer, the prosecutor, reminded Langston that the charges against Walthall were serious and that she had pleaded guilty. Standifer didn’t suggest a prison sentence, but told the judge a fine of $ 205, 958 was mandatory under the law.
“This case is more than a lack of record keeping,” he told the judge. “She’s admitted to what she’s done.” Walthall didn’t testify at the 16-minute hearing, but in a fourpage letter to the judge she admitted to making mistakes and that some of her use of expenses didn’t appear legitimate. But she maintained that she performed all of the services she had billed for.
“I need you to know that I did do that work,” she wrote. “I am a workaholic and am also one who is extremely passionate about what I do.”
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