FORT SMITH — A Lavaca man was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for one count each of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering.
Billy Joe Taylor, 44, admitted in a plea agreement that, from about November 2017 through May 2021, he and co-conspirators submitted and received payment for thousands of Medicare claims totaling millions of dollars for lab tests never ordered by the referring medical provider nor done for the benefit of the patient on the claims, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Arkansas.
The fraudulent claims were submitted on behalf of five clinical labs during the time they were owned or controlled by Taylor and his co-conspirators, namely, Vitas Laboratory in Barling; Corrlabs LLC in Southern Pines, N.C.; Nations Laboratory Services LLC in Tecumseh, Okla.; Beach Tox LLC in Torrance, Calif.; and Imaginus Diagnostic Laboratory LLC in Spiro, Okla., according to the release.
“More than $130 million in Medicare claims were submitted by these labs during the time they were owned or controlled by Taylor and his co-conspirators and Medicare paid approximately $38 million on these claims,” the release states.