Nashville woman must repay $1.7M in Medicare fraud scheme

Donna Dickens, 55, pleaded guilty last December to health care fraud. U.S. District Judge James Fox sentenced her to five years in prison, followed by three years on probation.

Prosecutors said Dickens billed Medicare between January 2005 and March 2010 for medical equipment that was either unnecessary or not delivered to Medicare beneficiaries by Dickens Health Care Supplies. They said her company also would routinely request reimbursement for equipment that exceeded the cost of what it actually provided to people.