FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
April 17, 2017
Steven T. Marshall
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
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DOTHAN WOMAN SENTENCED FOR MEDICAID FRAUD
(MONTGOMERY) – Catrina R. Copeland, 43, of Dothan, Alabama, was sentenced to five
months in prison and five months of home confinement on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 for
defrauding the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the federal government, announced Acting U.S.
Attorney A. Clark Morris, Alabama Attorney General Steven T. Marshall, and Health and Human
Services Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson.
Copeland was the owner of The Counseling Place, a Dothan company that contracted with
the Alabama Medicaid Agency to provide counseling services to at risk youth. Records indicate that
the Counseling Place received most of its business through referrals from schools and juvenile
courts. Copeland also worked for the business as a counselor. An investigation by the Alabama
Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit found that Copeland was billing the Alabama
Medicaid Agency for counseling services that were never actually provided.
“When you defraud Medicaid, you are stealing from every taxpayer,” stated Acting U.S.
Attorney Morris. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is dedicated to working with our law enforcement
partners to identify this type of criminal activity and bring the wrongdoers to justice.”
“Medicaid fraud not only targets taxpayers, but also victimizes the most vulnerable of our
state who rely on Medicaid services for their well-being,” said Attorney General Steven T. Marshall.
“I applaud the partnership of the Alabama Medicaid Agency, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the
Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for working as a team to secure a
conviction in this case. Medicaid fraud will not be tolerated and those who commit such crimes will
be held to account.”
“This investigation is an excellent example of collaboration between the state and federal law
enforcement community working together to serve the American taxpayer,” said Derrick L. Jackson,
Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. “The Office of Inspector General will continue to work aggressively to eliminate
this type of greed in our health care system.”
501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.alabama.gov Page 2 of 2
The Program Integrity Division of the Alabama Medicaid agency referred this case to the Alabama
Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) for investigation. The MFCU and the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General investigated this case,
with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross and Assistant Attorney General Bruce Lieberman
prosecuting.
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