HARTFORD — A North Haven dentist accused of defrauding more than $200,000 from the Medicaid health care program for the poor accepted a plea bargain Monday and was convicted of two felonies, but can avoid an immediate prison sentence by repaying the money before his Feb. 27 sentencing.
Dr. Christian J. O’Connor, who is in his mid-50s and has lived on Michael Road in Hamden, pleaded no contest to health insurance fraud and first-degree larceny in state Superior Court in Hartford.
A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but results in a conviction. It cannot be used against a defendant in a related civil case.
Online state and federal court records showed no civil lawsuit against O’Connor relating to Medicaid fraud as of Tuesday.
O’Connor’s plea bargain allows prosecutor Marjorie Lynn Sozanski of the chief state’s attorney’s office to argue for a prison term up to one year unless O’Connor pays the full restitution claimed by the state, $200,484, by the sentencing date.