TEXARKANA, Texas -- A licensed counselor was sentenced to 14 months in prison for healthcare fraud by a federal judge Tuesday in Texarkana.
Jason Neil Hughes used an identification number for a Texarkana psychiatrist to bill insurance companies at a higher rate for services actually performed by counselors and therapists. According to a factual basis document, Hughes operated ChangePoint counseling services based in Forney, Texas, beginning in 2013.
Beginning in 2015, ChangePoint contracted with a Texarkana psychiatrist, who was not criminally charged, to help patients obtain prescriptions. Hughes used the Texarkana doctor's National Provider Identifier number from 2015 to 2019 to bill health insurance companies for services performed by licensed counselors to obtain a higher fee.
Hughes pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud in September 2021 in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas.
He appeared Tuesday morning for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III in Texarkana's downtown federal building. Hughes' lawyer, John Pickett of Texarkana, made an impassioned plea to the court to vary downward from federal guidelines and sentence Hughes to probation rather than prison.
Pickett argued that Hughes has fully accepted responsibility, cooperated completely with the government and already paid $350,000 toward the more than $400,000 owed in restitution. Pickett argued that Hughes, who has no prior criminal history, will face the "immense punishment" that comes with the stigma of a felony conviction, the loss of the right to possess a firearm, the loss of the right to vote, the loss of the right to serve on a jury and the expected loss of professional opportunities.
"He's going to be branded with this felony for the rest of his life," Pickett argued.
Pickett said Hughes has gone to great lengths to cooperate in the government's investigation and "right this wrong."
Pickett pointed to the large number of family and friends who filled the courtroom audience in support of Hughes and numerous letters of support submitted to the court for consideration at sentencing.
Hughes addressed the court, apologizing to his family, his friends, his victims and the other lives touched by his criminal conduct.
"I alone am accountable. I alone am to blame," Hughes said.
Schroeder told Hughes he has reviewed every document connected to Hughes' case, considered the high level of cooperation Hughes showed and sought guidance from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Schroeder said he used sentencing information provided by the commission in other healthcare fraud cases in the U.S. between 2017 and 2021 in arriving at his decision.
At the beginning of the hearing, Wells argued that, "there should be some jail time for healthcare fraud," and later noted that Hughes' misconduct was not a "one time" event but occurred continuously over a period of years.
Schroeder said, "I don't think probation is appropriate here," noting, like Wells, that the conduct "went on for an awfully long time."
Schroeder's 14-month sentence for Hughes falls below the recommended guideline range of to 24 to 30 months. Hughes was ordered to report to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his time June 27, about two months from the sentencing date.
The total restitution ordered is $416,124.68 with $350,000 of the amount paid by Hughes in advance of his sentencing hearing, leaving Hughes owing a little over $66,000. Following his release from prison, Hughes will be supervised by federal officials for two years and is not permitted to perform any work involving insurance claims.
There is no parole from a federal criminal sentence, though offenders may earn up to 54 days per year for good behavior.