A doctor from Cleveland was sentenced to serve five years in prison for healthcare fraud in connection to fraudulent hospice operations throughout the Mississippi Delta.
According to court documents, 58-year-old Scott Nelson was a medical director for numerous fraudulent hospice operations in north Mississippi.
Nelson was convicted by a jury after a two-week trial in April of 2022 after evidence showed that numerous hospice patients that Nelson referred to hospice were not terminally ill. Instead, the individuals were still relatively healthy and able to testify at the trial almost ten years after Nelson put them on hospice.
The court found that Nelson was responsible for over $16 million in fraudulent payments from Medicare to various hospice organizations.
On Wednesday, Nelson was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison and pay $15 million in restitution by Chief U.S. District Judge Debra Brown in Greenville.
“Instead of earning an honest living by treating patients and billing fairly, this doctor chose to defraud the government and the taxpayers of money that was intended to help terminal patients needing end of life care,” U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner stated. “The sentence imposed is important to hold this defendant accountable and to send a message that there are consequences to those who choose to enrich themselves through stealing tax dollars intended to help some of our most vulnerable citizens.”
Nelson’s co-defendants, Charlene Brandon, Wendell Brandon, and Annette Lofton, had previously pled guilty to healthcare fraud charges.
