A woman pleaded guilty to committing Medicaid fraud earlier this month in Cobb County Superior Court, according to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
Paula Houston entered a plea to the sole charge March 13 in connection to a scheme to defraud the Medicaid Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program, which provides assistance to people with developmental or intellectual disabilities.
According to Carr’s office, Houston, 39, was employed by co-defendant Otis Nettles to provide assistance to his daughter. She started her service in 2015, and Nettles submitted her time sheets to the Acumen Fiscal Agent outlining the hours she worked.
Houston received her pay, but around the same time, Nettles brought on others to help care for his daughter, including Paris Thomas, who worked for him in 2015, but not the following year.
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The Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit launched an investigation, and revealed that there were time sheets documenting Thomas's work in March 2016 when she no longer worked for Nettles.
Time sheets were also submitted for another person, Angel Bradham, who was never hired by Nettles. Investigators discovered the money doled out for Thomas and Bradham actually went to Houston.
As part of the negotiated plea, Houston was sentenced by Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris to serve 10 years on probation. She is also barred from providing services or receiving money from Georgia Medicaid and has to pay $6,208.41 in restitution. Houston will also have to testify against Nettles, if that case goes to trial.
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