Jackson, MS-Eleven of 14 defendants have now pleaded guilty for their role in a $500,000 insurance fraud scheme involving the State and School Employees Health Insurance Plan, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.

Five of those defendants appeared before Judge John Emfinger in Rankin County Circuit Court yesterday to either enter a plea and/or be sentenced:

? Fonda Church, age 46 of Jackson, pleaded guilty yesterday to two counts of conspiracy, two counts of insurance fraud and two counts of making false representations to defraud the government.
Church was sentenced to a term of eight years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) and ordered to pay restitution to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi in the amount of $51,260.36 to be paid jointly with her co-defendants. She was further ordered to reimburse the State of Mississippi?s General Fund in the amount of $1,250 for the cost of the investigation; ordered to pay $200 to the Mississippi Crime Victim?s Compensation Fund; and court costs in the amount of $1,646.00. Upon her release from prison ,Church will serve five years on supervised probation.  Church was an employee of the Mississippi State Board of Health at the time of the crime.

? Shantwana Johnson, age 36, entered an open plea (meaning she threw herself on the mercy of the court) September 12 to two counts of conspiracy, two counts of insurance fraud, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of making false representations to defraud the government.  Judge Emfinger sentenced Johnson yesterday to serve a term of eight years in the custody of MDOC and ordered to pay restitution to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi in the amount of $68,023.12 to be paid jointly with her co-defendants. She was further ordered to reimburse the State of Mississippi?s General Fund in the amount of $2,095 for the cost of the investigation; ordered to pay $200 to the Mississippi Crime Victim?s Compensation Fund; and court costs in the amount of $1,646. Upon her release from prison she will serve five years on supervised probation. Johnson was employed with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security at the time of the crime.

? Contessa Davis, age 37 of Jackson, entered an open plea September 12 to one count of conspiracy, one count of insurance fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of making false representations to defraud the government.  Davis was sentenced yesterday to serve a term of five years in the custody of MDOC and ordered to pay restitution to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi in the amount of $40,822.72 to be paid jointly with her co-defendants. She was further ordered to reimburse the State of Mississippi?s General Fund in the amount of $2,225.00 for the cost of the investigation; ordered to pay $100 to the Mississippi Crime Victim?s Compensation Fund; and court costs in the amount of $823.00. Upon her release from prison she will serve five years on supervised probation.  Davis was employed with the Mississippi Department of Corrections at the time of the crime.

? Tambrela Johnson, age 25 of Jackson, entered an open plea September 22 to one count of conspiracy, one count of insurance fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of making false representations to defraud the government.  Johnson was sentenced yesterday to serve a term of five years in the custody of MDOC and ordered to pay restitution to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi in the amount of $36,258.56 to be paid jointly with her co-defendants. She was further ordered to reimburse the State of Mississippi?s General Fund in the amount of $2,445 for the cost of the investigation; ordered to pay $100 to the Mississippi Crime Victim?s Compensation Fund; and court costs in the amount of $823. Upon her release from prison she will serve five years on supervised probation.  Johnson was employed with Mississippi State Hospital at the time of the crime.

? Kathy Carter, age 40, entered an open plea September 22 to two counts of conspiracy, two counts of insurance fraud, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of making false representations to defraud the government.  Carter was sentenced to serve a term of three years in the custody of MDOC and ordered to pay restitution to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi in the amount of $37,062.36. to be paid jointly with her co-defendants. She was further ordered to reimburse the State of Mississippi?s General Fund in the amount of $1,255.00 for the cost of the investigation; ordered to pay $200 to the Mississippi Crime Victim?s Compensation Fund; and court costs in the amount of $1,646.00. Upon her release from prison she will serve five years on supervised probation.  Carter is a former employee of Mississippi Division of Medicaid.

Cases are still pending against one state employee (Crystal Barnes, age 36, of Jackson), one employee of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi (Sonya Mitchell, age 35 of Jackson), and a third party (Zaveon Cooper, age 36, of Jackson).  Six others have already pleaded guilty in the case.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, which administers the State and School Employees Health Insurance Plan, had three employees who processed claims of up to $44,000 to at least 10 state employees for reimbursement for medical procedures that never occurred.  These state employees cashed the checks and kicked back some of the money to the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi employees and one third party. The total stolen from the State and School Employees Health Insurance Plan is over $500,000.

The scheme unraveled when a participant returned her check to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, which then turned it over to authorities. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi has cooperated with the Attorney General’s investigation and made a prompt and full refund to the State. The Department of Audit assisted.

The cases were prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Larry Baker of the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Division.