A California man was sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to broker patients as part of a multistate patient scheme in which he directed recruiters to bribe drug-addicted individuals to enroll in drug rehabilitation and received referral fees from the rehabilitation centers. Kevin M. Dickau, 35, of Tustin, California, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Six other individuals have previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme: Peter Costas; Seth Logan Welsh; John C. Devlin; Akikur Mohammad; Lauren Philhower; and Anastasia Passas. Dickau, Welsh, Devlin, and their conspirators brokered scores of patients to drug treatment facilities around the country, including the ones run by Mohammad, Philhower, and Passas, and the conspiracy caused millions of dollars of losses for health insurers. In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced Dickau to three years of supervised release.
