Mar.11, 2010

WACO—Mercy Chieza, 55, of Hewitt, was sentenced Thursday to 37 months in prison after pleading guilty in December to federal health care fraud and money laundering charges.

Senior U.S. District Judge James R. Nowlin also ordered Chieza to serve three years of supervised release after she completes the prison term and to pay $664,215 in restitution to the Texas Medicaid program, U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy said Thursday.

Chieza, who owned Chieza Psychological Services in Waco, admitted in court that she defrauded the state’s Medicaid program through multiple fraudulent billings, filing claims for services she didn’t personally perform and filing claims for services that weren’t provided at all, Murphy said.

She also admitted billing for services that totaled more than 24 hours in a single day, for services in a single day that amounted to more than double the number of her practice’s businesses hours, and for services rendered on weekends, holidays and at times she was known to be out of town, Murphy said.