Nurse practitioner gets 10 years for $66 million Medicare fraud scheme

A licensed nurse practitioner who owned two telemedicine companies was sentenced to 120 months in prison and ordered to pay $66 million in restitution for her role in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment and prescription drugs, according to court documents and statements made in court.

Jean Wilson, 54, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, operated the two telemedicine companies between 2017 and 2019, prosecutors said. Through those companies, Wilson and her co-conspirators paid illegal kickbacks to medical providers who signed orders for orthotic braces and prescriptions for pharmaceutical drugs on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries who did not actually need them, according to court documents. Wilson signed many of the prescriptions herself.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division said Wilson “exploited our health care system,” adding that the lengthy sentence underscores the division’s commitment to fighting fraud, holding corrupt medical professionals accountable and recovering stolen taxpayer dollars.

After obtaining the signed orders and prescriptions, Wilson and others illegally sold them to purported marketing companies for approximately $90 per Medicare beneficiary, court documents state. Those marketing companies frequently resold the orders to brace suppliers and pharmacies, which then billed Medicare for the unnecessary equipment and drugs. Prosecutors said Wilson and her co-conspirators also pressured Medicare beneficiaries into accepting as many braces as possible. According to evidence presented in the case, practitioners working under Wilson signed orders for four or more orthotic devices for more than 3,000 beneficiaries, and more than 40 beneficiaries received orders for 10 or more orthotic devices.

Prosecutors said Wilson tried to hide her role in the scheme by using shell accounts and nominee owners for her companies, including recruiting a fellow church member to open a bank account under one of the telemedicine businesses’ names. In total, Wilson and her co-conspirators submitted more than $136 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which the program paid out more than $66 million, according to court documents. Wilson and her husband, Reinaldo Wilson — who was previously sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the conspiracy — used proceeds from the scheme to purchase luxury vehicles, including multiple Rolls-Royces, prosecutors said.

Following her arrest and indictment, Wilson marketed herself as a “Medical Professional Legal Consultant” and authored multiple books on health care compliance, including “Avoiding Health Care Pitfalls,” in which she cautioned readers, “Some entities and individuals will try to use you as a way to make them millions!”

Wilson pleaded guilty in March 2024 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud. The FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General investigated the case, which was prosecuted by trial attorneys with the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Fraud Section.