A woman has been sentenced to prison and ordered to repay more than $538,000 after being convicted in a Medicaid fraud case, according to Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch.
Fitch announced Monday that Shawncee Vassar-Cunningham was sentenced on one count of Medicaid wire fraud.
Madison County Circuit Court Judge Dewey Arthur sentenced Cunningham on Oct. 20 to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with two years to serve and three years suspended.
Cunningham was also sentenced to five years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $538,828.91 in restitution to the Mississippi Division of Medicaid.
Fitch said the case was part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Health Care Fraud Takedown conducted earlier this year.
The nationwide operation resulted in criminal charges against 455 defendants in 45 states and territories in connection with alleged health care fraud schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in intended losses.
As part of the takedown, Fitch’s office announced 11 indictments involving more than $12.3 million in alleged fraud.
Fitch said her office has secured 66 criminal convictions and 62 civil settlements involving fraud since she took office, recovering nearly $106 million for Mississippi taxpayers.
