Thursday, March 10, 2005
Richard A. White was sentenced to 90 months in prison.
CLEVELAND -- Youngstown businessman Richard A. White was sentenced to 90 months in prison and ordered to repay $7.2 million for defrauding the Medicare program.
Michael A. Suhadolnik, an employee of White's at Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital, was sentenced to 37 months in prison as part of the same scheme.
The men were convicted by a jury in March 2004, after a two week trial.
Another co-defendant, Patricia Macejko, of Canfield, is awaiting a separate trial.
From 1996 through 1998, White was the financial manager of the hospital. Suhadolnik was the chief financial officer.
White and his co-defendants were convicted of creating a network of Medicare provider companies associated with Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital without disclosing their interest in them. Medicare prohibits companies earning profits by dealing with related companies.
Moreover, White used the network of companies to charge huge management fees for their dealings with Youngstown Osteopathic. And the companies themselves produced inflated profits by charging exorbitant fees to Medicare.
Multiagency investigation
The case was tried for the United States Attorney's Office by Assistant U.S. Attorney James C. Lynch. The four-year investigation was conducted by agents of the Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services; the IRS and the Youngstown office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Another co-defendant, Raul Sanchez DeVarona, an attorney from Coral Gables, Fla., testified at the trial of White and Suhadolnik after a guilty plea. In exchange, he was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment.
After sentencing, White and Suhadolnik were released on bond and ordered to report to prison April 25.