Former hospital exec gets probation in federal fraud case

[TexasTowelie]

FORT WORTH – Harris Brooks has lost a lot in the past year, but he won't lose the next five years of his life confined in a federal penitentiary.

A U.S. district judge with a reputation as "the most feared" and who rules with an "iron fist," according to news articles, displayed rare leniency Friday for the former Palo Pinto General Hospital chief executive officer facing up to five years imprisonment for his role in a multi-million medical billing fraud scheme.

With 20 family members and supporters of Brooks present inside McBryde's fourth-floor courtroom in the downtown Fort Worth federal courthouse, the judge took into account a number of factors and testimony on Brooks' behalf. After recessing about 20 minutes, McBryde returned and announced a sentence of five years probation and restitution of $2.4 million for three named healthcare insurance companies, along with 250 hours of community service.

Brooks pleaded guilty in March to defrauding three major insurance providers – BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, CIGNA Texas and United Healthcare – through an improper pass-through laboratory billing scheme.

Read more: https://www.mineralwellsindex.com/news/former-hospital-exec-gets-probation-in-federal-fraud-case/article_155ad1b2-9f72-11e9-9d3d-db4c336b5e4b.html

Despite his good intentions of keeping PPGH open and that he "did not gain anything personally from his conduct," Brooks did financially benefit by keeping his employer open and paying his $305,000 annual salary. That fact, along with the ethical lapse of stealing $8.7 million from the insurers was worthy of some time in prison. The judge made a terrible decision.

[Ilsa]

1. Community service. Like anyone ever checks.

I know there are some places where POs have case loads too heavy to deal with except for the more dangerous offenders. I wonder how cushy the community service would be anyway.