A Dallas woman may be heading to federal prison after a FOX 4 investigation exposed her wheeling and dealing with Medicare patients.
Ollie Futrell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in federal court Thursday. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
"I found two more patients," a woman told Futrell on the FOX 4 undercover tape last year. "But they want to know how much you are going to pay?"
"I am paying a hundred a month, a hundred a month," Futrell responded.
That conversation took place in October 2010. She told the women on the tape she paid Medicare patients to sign up and stay on a home health care program.
The tape was used by federal investigators to help get a guilty plea out of Futrell and the home health care operators she worked with.
"We are not ashamed to take help from anybody," said James Jacks, the former U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Texas. "The media and investigative reporting in this area is something we are grateful for. It provides extremely powerful evidence."
Last week, the owners of Alliance Healthcare Services also pleaded guilty to the same charge.
Ernest Amadi, George Opurum and their wives, Edith Amadi and Agatha Opurum were accused of billing Medicare more than a $1 million in claims for services that were not medically necessary and not provided.
They also face possible prison time and fines. All five defendants will be sentenced in April 2012.
