ROME, Ga. — A judge has sentenced a former Georgia nursing home operator to serve 20 years in prison and pay more than $7 million in restitution.
U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy sentenced 64-year-old George Houser of Sandy Springs on Monday for his conviction on conspiring to defraud Medicare and the Georgia Medicaid program by providing worthless services. He operated two nursing homes in Rome and one in Brunswick, but state inspectors closed them in 2007 because of the poor conditions.
U.S. Attorney Sally Quillan Yates said Houser used the money he received to fund a luxurious lifestyle while residents went without food and medicine.
The judge ordered Houser to pay $6.7 million in restitution to Medicaid and Medicare and more than $872,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.
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