Connecticut
CT alcohol and drug counselor sentenced for submitting hundreds of fraudulent Medicaid claims
A New Haven alcohol and drug counselor has been sentenced to a year in prison for submitting hundreds of Medicaid claims for services that were never delivered using identification numbers of numerous individuals without their knowledge to fraudulently receive more than $100,000.
Ethel Bethea, 61, was handed down the sentence Thursday in Hartford Superior Court, where Judge David P. Gold ordered that she serve five years of probation once she is released from prison, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.
While on probation, a violation would expose Bethea to an additional six years behind bars, Gold ordered.
Criminal justice officials said Gold also ordered her to pay $38,000 of restitution by Monday, with the remaining $63,408 to be paid while she serves probation. In total, she has been ordered to pay $101,408 of restitution .
Bethea was also ordered not to act as a Medicaid provider or provide services to any Medicaid recipient, criminal justice officials said.
Prior to sentencing, Bethea pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine to first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud and third-degree identity theft.
By being found guilty of a program-related felony, judicial officials said she is “also subject to mandatory exclusion as a health care provider to certain federally funded health programs pursuant to federal and state laws and regulations.”
“Medicaid is a government program that provides health coverage to low-income, disabled, and elderly individuals, and is financed by both the federal and state governments,” the Division of Criminal Justice said in a news release.
In September 2018, Bethea was approved by the Connecticut Department of Social Services to be a Connecticut Medical Assistance Provider, official said. The type of services Bethea could provide were as a Behavioral Health Clinician with a specialty as a Licensed Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor. She operated her own business, Ethel Bethea Counseling.
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Inspectors determined that between September 2018 and October 2019, Bethea submitted hundreds of claims for services she claimed to have provided that were not delivered. Bethea used the Medicaid identification numbers of numerous individuals “without their consent or knowledge” in order to submit the fraudulent claims and obtain $101,408 “for these false billings,” judicial officials said.
Additionally, Bethea claimed to have no income and enrolled as a Medicaid recipient, receiving personal medical services paid for by Medicaid, officials said.
The investigation was led by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office.
Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at 860-258-5986.
Connecticut
Family called Connecticut police about suspect in D.C. Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, Trump says
Family members of the accused gunman who tried to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner alerted police in Connecticut with concerns about the man, the president said Sunday.
In an interview with Fox News Channel, President Donald Trump said the man — who was armed with guns and knives — had written about targeting Trump administration officials.
Separately, police in New London confirmed in a statement that a person contacted them at approximately 10:49 p.m., about two hours after the incident. Police said the person expressed concern about events that unfolded earlier that evening at the dinner.
“The reporting individual wanted to share information they believed to be pertinent to the matter,” the statement said.
New London police immediately contacted federal law enforcement partners. Both local and federal officers then interviewed the person, according to the statement.
“The New London Police Department remains committed to working collaboratively with our law enforcement partners at all levels to ensure public safety,” the statement said.
New London police said their investigation into the matter is no longer active and directed further inquiries to the U.S. Secret Service. The federal agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was expected to face criminal charges on Monday from the Justice Department, whose acting leader, Todd Blanche, said the suspect traveled by train from California and checked in as a guest days earlier at the Washington hotel where the Saturday night gala dinner was held with its typically tight security.
Authorities said Allen attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being hurried off the stage and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.
Fox reported Sunday that the White House said Allen’s brother contacted New London police and reported Allen had sent family members “an alleged manifesto outlining his intent to target administration officials.”
During a live telephone interview, Fox News journalist Jacqui Heinrich asked the president to comment on information she said was provided by the White House about the suspected shooter and his motive.
“I’m being told that he had a manifesto saying he wanted to target Trump administration officials,” Heinrich said. “He had a lot of anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on his social media accounts, and left a manifesto in his hotel room that his brother had notified New London police about prior to this incident.”
She added that secret service agents had been talking to Allen’s family members, and that Allen attended a No Kings protest in California. She asked Trump for his reaction to the new details.
“I heard about the London situation and I wish they would have told us about it a little bit,” Trump said. “But it is what it is.”
A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press the suspected shooter sent writings to family members minutes before the attack in which he railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin.”
The writings made repeated references to Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions and recent events, including U.S. strikes on drug smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific, the official said Sunday.
The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Allen’s brother contacted police in New London after receiving the writings, according to the official.
This story has been updated. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Connecticut
Mary (Beebe) Crocker Obituary
Born on March 9, 1945, in East Hartford, Connecticut, to Robert and Mary (née Bragg) …
Connecticut
Rain showers slowly spread east today and tonight
Temperatures will warm into the 50s for much of the state unless you’re at the shoreline or near the New York border.
Rain showers will begin in southwest Connecticut this afternoon before slowly spreading to the east through the evening
Much of the state will see rain tonight unless you’re in the far northeast corner of Connecticut.
A few showers could linger in southern and southeastern Connecticut tomorrow morning.
Clouds will linger through much of Sunday with temperatures in the 50s for more of the state.
Monday and Tuesday will be sunnier and seasonal with temperatures well into the 60s.
Cloud cover and rain chances return by the middle of the week.
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