CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An Ohio man was sentenced in federal court Monday to three years of probation for health care fraud.
Joshua Petrie, 36, of Proctorville, Ohio, previously pleaded guilty in Sept. 2015.
In 2009 and 2010, Petrie admitted that he worked as a sales representative and fitter for several out-of-state companies that sold and distributed back and knee braces from a medical practice in West Virginia.
Petrie created fraudulent documents falsely showing that he provided braces to patients. The falsified documents included a certification from a physician indicating that the physician had ordered the braces for individual Medicare patients.
Petrie also used a copy of the physicians signature rather than an original. The documents also included a delivery ticket with a signature line for patients to acknowledge they received the braces.
Petrie forged patients’ signatures to the delivery tickets to make it appear that patients had actually received the braces.
The paperwork was used to illegally bill Medicare for approximately $38,000.