Federal prosecutors have secured guilty pleas or prison sentences in at least six durable medical equipment fraud cases tied to more than $1.5 billion in claims since late May, and CMS has barred 11 DME suppliers from Medicare Advantage payments.
The cases follow a familiar pattern: telemarketers target Medicare beneficiaries, practitioners sign orders for orthotic braces without examining patients and DME companies bill Medicare for equipment no one needed. Becker’s tracked DME fraud actions against 10 people between March 24 and May 26.
CMS imposed a six-month moratorium on new Medicare enrollment for certain DME, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies providers in February, citing more than $1.5 billion in suspected fraudulent billing stopped in 2025. The moratorium expired Aug. 27, according to the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association. On Sept. 8, CMS barred 11 DMEPOS suppliers from future Medicare Advantage and Part D payments, citing more than $3.4 billion in suspected fraudulent billing in 2025 and 2026.
DME schemes also featured in the Justice Department’s 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, announced June 23, which charged 455 defendants in connection with more than $6.5 billion in alleged false claims. One defendant, Ibrahim Hilmi, is accused of submitting more than $3.7 billion in false claims for urinary catheters and other DME that was never provided.
Here are six DME fraud sentencings Becker’s has reported since late May:
1. Jean Wilson of Richmond Hill, Ga., was sentenced to 120 months in prison for her role in a $136 million scheme involving two telemedicine companies. Ms. Wilson paid kickbacks to practitioners to authorize unnecessary orthotic braces and prescription drugs, then sold the signed orders to marketing companies for about $90 per beneficiary. She was ordered to pay $66 million in restitution, the Justice Department said in a June 30 news release. Her husband was previously sentenced to seven years for his role.
2. Michael Kochen of Aventura, Fla., and Sandro Herek of Coral Springs, Fla., were sentenced to 204 months and 92 months in prison, respectively, for a $35 million scheme billing Medicare Advantage plans for unnecessary orthotic braces. Mr. Herek supervised call centers in Egypt and other countries that cold-called elderly beneficiaries, and physicians issued authorizations based only on call recordings. Medicare Advantage plans paid more than $19 million on the claims. Both men were convicted at trial.
3. Kenneth Kessler III of Miami and Michael Gomez of Miramar, Fla., were sentenced to 33 months and 24 months in prison, respectively, in a $34.8 million orthotic brace scheme run through seven DME companies. The pair shifted billing across companies to evade Medicare payment suspensions, the Justice Department said in a Sept. 4 news release. Both pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.
4. Steven Richardson of Port St. Lucie, Fla., was sentenced to two years in prison in a $110 million scheme billing Medicare for unnecessary orthotic braces. Telemarketers were paid per order to target beneficiaries, and medical staffing firms recruited physicians and nurses to sign prepared orders, often without contacting patients, the Justice Department said in an Aug. 20 news release. He pleaded guilty in April 2024.
5. Herbert Kimble, 60, pleaded guilty Aug. 11 to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and failure to appear in a $1.2 billion telemedicine and DME scheme. Mr. Kimble fled to the Philippines after missing his 2024 sentencing and was captured June 8. He and prosecutors agreed to a sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison, and he agreed to pay nearly $200 million in restitution.
6. David Antonio Becerril, MD, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was sentenced to 40 months in prison for signing orders for genetic tests and back, knee, shoulder and ankle braces for Medicare patients he never treated. Telemedicine company Real Time Physicians billed Medicare $4.1 million for his orders. Dr. Becerril spent an average of 26 seconds reviewing each order, according to trial evidence, and was ordered to pay $1.25 million in restitution.
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