FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   ANGELA DODGE  
MONDAY, NOV. 26, 2007   PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST     
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXS <file://WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXS>   (713) 567-9388


LOCAL PSYCHOLOGIST SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR FRAUD

(Corpus Christi, TX) A Corpus Christi area psychologist has been sentenced to prison for defrauding Medicare or Medicaid, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot announced today.

Joe Luis Lerma, 54, a licensed psychologist with a professional office in Corpus Christi, who was convicted by a jury’s verdict in August 2007, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison without parole for submitting bills to Medicare and Medicaid under his Texas Provider Number (TPI) for psychological services he claimed to have provided when, in fact, the services had not been provided by him. Chief U.S. District Judge Hayden Head imposed the prison terms today and further ordered Lerma to pay $530,000 in restitution. Each of the nine prison terms is to be served concurrently, and will be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.  

During his August 2007 trial, the United States proved that Lerma billed Medicaid/Medicare for Psychological Diagnostic Interview Examinations and Psychological Testing conducted by licensed and unlicensed psychological associates hired as subcontractors by Lerma to conduct the examinations and testing. Under Medicaid regulations, psychologists cannot bill for the services performed by others, and psychological services provided by psychological associates, regardless of physician or licensed psychologist supervision, are not benefits of the Medicaid program. Lerma not only wrongfully billed for services provided by others, but overbilled by claiming he had provided the services himself.       
       
The court has permitted Lerma to remain free on bond pending the issuance of an order to surrender to a prison facility to be designated by the  U.S. Bureau of Prisons in the near future. 

The investigation leading to the criminal charges was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the State of Texas Office of Attorney General--Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Corpus Christi Division.   Assistant United States Attorney Julie K. Hampton and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rex G. Beasley prosecuted the case.