Lawrence Thigpen pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to submitting false and fraudulent bills as part of the Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home.
Thigpen, 53, of Collinsville, allegedly falsified time sheets for his girlfriend – who was also his personal assistant – to receive payments for time when she was in jail. Bills were then submitted to the Home Services Program for her personal assistant services, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced Thursday.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2015 in United States District Court in East St. Louis. Thigpen faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Inspector General, and the Illinois State Police’s Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau.
