Operator of Va. Medical Transport Pleads Guilty to Defrauding State Medicaid Program

Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore recently announced that the operator of a Charlotte County medical transport company has pleaded guilty to two charges stemming from reported attempts to defraud Virginia’s Medicaid system.

Samuel St. John, owner of St. John’s Medical Tranport, has pleaded guilty in Charlotte County Circuit Court to one count of Medicaid fraud and one count of solicitation to commit Medicaid fraud. St. John was sentenced to 20 years in prison on the Medicaid fraud count and five years on the solicitation count, but was given two years probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $116,884.

Between March 1999 and March 2000, St. John reportedly billed the Commonwealth’s Medicaid system for transport services that were never rendered. In addition, he reportedly offered the parent of a Medicaid recipient cash in return for the use of the recipient’s Medicaid number – an act that led to the solicitation charge.

St. John has already provided the Commonwealth with a certified check of $50,000 of the full restitution amount. He also is prohibited from being involved with any Medicaid provider in the future and has surrendered the Medicaid/Logisticare provider number for the company.

The restitution paid by St. John will be evenly divided between the federal Medicaid program and Virginia’s General Fund, for use for Virginia’s Medicaid program.