Industry Note:
Texas Home Care Nurse Sentenced To Prison
Published on Sun Oct 10, 2010
Keep a close eye on your visiting staff, or you may find yourself wrapped up in a federal court case. Former home care nurse Veronica De Leon was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for submitting fake paperwork to her Walesco, Texas, HHA for patient visits that were scheduled that she didn't make, reports The (McAllen) Monitor. De Leon also must pay $26,844 in restitution to Medicare and serve a three-year term of supervised release, the newspaper says. Witnesses at De Leon's sentencing hearing testified that she submitted more than 375 fake forms, according to The Monitor. The nurse begged patients not to tell about the missed visits and lied that she suffered from cancer, prosecutors said.