United States Attorney G. F. “Pete” Peterman, III, announces that Dr. Stanley B. Marable, DDS, age 55, a dentist from Valdosta, Georgia, was sentenced March 16, 2017 to serve twenty-seven (27) months in Federal prison for Healthcare Fraud followed by two (2) years of supervised release. In addition, Dr. Marable was ordered to pay a fine of $5,000.00 and a $100.00 mandatory assessment fee. The sentence was handed down by United States District Court Judge Hugh Lawson in Valdosta, Georgia.
Dr. Marable entered a plea of guilty on October 13, 2016. Facts admitted showed that he was a general practice dentist in Valdosta who was reimbursed through Medicaid payments from the State of Georgia. In 2012, at the request of the Georgia Department of Community Health, Division of Medical Assistance (DCH), an audit was performed by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (DOOA). Several billing irregularities were discovered. Further investigation by the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit revealed that from January 2011 through September 30, 2013, Dr. Marable was paid for 3,145 claims for the extraction of teeth and received Medicaid payments for these extractions totaling more than $789,000.00. The investigation of the claims revealed that Dr. Marable had not actually extracted the teeth from many of the patients for whom claims of reimbursement had been submitted. Several patients had never had any teeth extracted, including one individual who did not even know Dr. Marable was a dentist.
As part of his plea agreement, Dr. Marable agreed to pay a total of $789,841.00 in restitution to the Georgia Medicaid Program. The full amount of restitution was paid prior to sentencing.
The case was investigated by the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and Georgia Department of Community Health – Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sonja Profit and Tamara Jarrett and Georgia Assistant Attorney General James Mooney.
“The Office of the Attorney General applauds the court’s sentence in the case of Dr. Stanley Marable for Healthcare Fraud,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “I am especially proud of our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for working with the Georgia Department of Community Health and the Georgia Department of Audits to develop crucial evidence for the inception of this case and provide vital support throughout the prosecution. Our team was led by Assistant Attorney General Jim Mooney, Investigator Kevin White, Investigative Auditor Denise Colson, Intelligence Analyst Kirste Young and former Investigative Auditor Kenyetta Smith. I congratulate our partners in the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Georgia for a successful prosecution, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to prevent truly bad actors from defrauding our systems in Georgia.”
Said United States Attorney Peterman, “Dr. Marable’s conduct in this case was egregious. In many cases he claimed to have pulled twenty or more teeth from a single patient. In one case he claimed to have extracted 31 of the patient’s 32 teeth. He fully deserves the sentence imposed upon him today.”