The owner of two telemedicine companies was sentenced on Tuesday to 120 months in prison and ordered to pay $66 million in restitution for her role in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment and prescription drugs.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Jean Wilson, 54, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, is a licensed nurse practitioner who owned and operated two telemedicine companies between 2017 and 2019. 

Through these companies, Ms Wilson and others paid illegal kickbacks to medical providers to sign orders for orthotic braces and prescriptions for pharmaceutical drugs for Medicare beneficiaries, even though the beneficiaries did not need the braces or drugs. Wilson signed many of the prescriptions herself.

“The defendant—a nurse practitioner responsible for the care and safety of her patients—exploited our health care system, conspiring to submit over $136 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare,” said assistant attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Today’s lengthy sentence underscores the Fraud Division’s commitment to fighting fraud at every turn to restore public trust in our institutions. We will work tirelessly to hold corrupt medical professionals accountable and recover stolen taxpayer dollars for the American people.”     

After acquiring the signed orders and prescriptions, Ms Wilson and others illegally sold them to purported marketing companies for approximately $90 per Medicare beneficiary. 

The marketing companies often resold the orders to brace companies and pharmacies, which in turn submitted claims for medically unnecessary braces and drugs to Medicare. 

Ms Wilson and her coconspirators at marketing companies pressured Medicare beneficiaries into accepting as many braces as possible, and evidence showed that practitioners working for Ms Wilson signed orders for four or more orthotics per beneficiary for over 3,000 beneficiaries. 

In fact, over 40 beneficiaries received orders for 10 or more orthotics. Ms Wilson attempted to conceal her conduct by using shell accounts and appointing nominee owners for her companies, including a member of Ms Wilson’s church to open a bank account in the name of one of her telemedicine companies. 

During the conspiracy, Ms Wilson and others submitted over $136 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which Medicare paid over $66 million. Ms Wilson and her husband, Reinaldo Wilson, who was previously sentenced to seven years for his involvement in the conspiracy, used illicit proceeds from the scheme to purchase luxury vehicles, including multiple Rolls-Royces. 

After her arrest and indictment, Ms Wilson held herself out as a ‘medical professional legal consultant’ and authored multiple books on health care compliance. In her book, ‘Avoiding Health Care Pitfalls’, Ms Wilson warned, “Some entities and individuals will try to use you as a way to make them millions!”

Ms Wilson pleaded guilty in March 2024 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud.