A Pitt County man faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Wake County to conspiring to commit Medicaid fraud and perjury, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced Friday.
State and federal prosecutors presented evidence that Shephard Lee Spruill Jr., of Winterville, conspired with Terry Lamont Speller and Donnie Lee Phillips Jr. to defraud the health care program in connection with a Pitt County clinic called The Medical Office.
Spruill, 46, had access to patient names and Medicaid ID numbers as president of a behavioral health service called Carolina Support Services, and he shared them with Speller and Phillips, the agency said in a news release.
Speller and Phillips, who are already in prison, used the information to bill Medicaid for more than $2 million in fake services and Spruill got his cut disguised as loan reimbursements, the agency said.
Spruill also admitted that he lied when he testified to a federal grand jury that he had no business relationship with Speller and didn’t know why Medicaid payments were being split between them, according to the report.
Through a plea agreement, Spruill is said to face up to 15 years in prison, $500,000 in fines and three years of of supervised release.
He also agreed to pay nearly $1.85 million in restitution to the state Medicaid program, and more repayment for any other fraud committed in association with Medicaid providers Carolina Support Services, Pride in North Carolina, Elite Care, Southern Support Services, One to One Youth, Vision of New Hope, Bridge Builders Youth Services and Jameson Consultants, the report said.