Page 39 - 7-1-16 Friday's Edition

Memoriam
Crime
Physician Indicted On 21
IN MEMORIAM
BERNIDA V. SMITH 7-2-96
It has been 20 years since God called you home. Al- though it seems like yesterday.
We love you and truly miss you. Gone but not for- gotten. Love, your children.
Counts Of Health Care Fraud
Last week, U. S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III an- nounced the unsealing of an indictment charging a Pinel- las County physician with several criminal charges.
Dr. Anthony Baldizzi,
52, of Tierra Verde, has been charged with 1 count of con- spiracy to defraud the United States, 21 counts of health care fraud, 1 count of money laundering, 1 count of making a false statement, and 1 count of receiving ille- gal kickbacks. The health care fraud and money laun- dering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
The remaining counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years.
The indictment also noti- fied Dr. Baldizzi that the United States is seeking a money judgment in the amount of at least $5.3 mil- lion as proceeds of the con-
spiracy and health care fraud offenses and forfeiture of a 2015 BMW M3, which is alleged as property trace- able to proceeds of the charged conduct.
According to the indict- ment, Dr. Baldizzi is a li- censed medical doctor who practices at an urgent care clinic in Pinellas County. In or around 2014, he entered into an agreement with the owners and operators of Lifecare Compounding Pharmacy to receive kick- backs for each prescription he wrote and directed to Lifecare for filling.
Later, the principals of Lifecare introduced Dr. Baldizzi to the principals of Centurion Compounding, a marketing firm, and these parties entered into another kickback relationship where Dr. Baldizzi agreed to be- come a Centurion “in-net- work” doctor and write
prescriptions for com- pounded creams marketed by Centurion and filled at Lifecare.
In exchange, the princi- pals of Lifecare and Centu- rion jointly paid Dr. Baldizzi a kickback of each paid claim, equal to approx- imately 10% of the after-cost amount of the payment. Many of these prescriptions were written for beneficiar- ies of TRICARE, a federal health care benefit program.
Lifecare submitted to TRICARE claims for pre- scriptions written by Dr. Baldizzi, pursuant to their illegal kickback agreement, totaling approximately $5.3 million.
Lifecare also submitted to Medicare claims for pre- scriptions written by Dr. Baldizzi, pursuant to their illegal kickback agreement, totaling approximately $71,312.41.
Man Arrested For Misuse Of 9-1-1
Arrest Made In Spree Of Arson Fires
On June 26th at 9:06 p. m., Winter Haven Police re- ported that John May, 53, called 9-1-1 to complain about the food he received from a Checkers Restaurant.
Authorities said May com- plained, not only that the food was incorrect, but that the manager closed the drive- through window on him.
When officers arrived at the restaurant, May admit- ted there was no emergency, but he just wanted officers to have the manager correct his order. The officers reportedly observed that more than half
JOHN MAY
of May’s food had been
eaten.
May was arrested and
charged with misuse of 9-1-1 and trespass-fail to leave upon the order of the owner.
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue reported that on May 30th, a storage building was burned at the Temple Terrace Pony Baseball Complex. The subsequent fire investigation ended in a conclusion of arson, but no suspect was identified.
On June 12th while re- sponding to a fire, a white male was seen on a bicycle by Fire Rescue personnel in the area of the fire. The pedes- trian, Matthew Ethridge, 26, was approached for ques- tioning. He said he was riding his bicycle by the area and
MATTHEW ETHRIDGE
saw the fire trucks, but de- nied any involvement in the fire.
Investigators reviewed records and determined a
March fire in the area also shared similar characteris- tics. It was determined Ethridge was serving proba- tion for a bomb hoax at the time of the June 12th fire.
On June 21st, Ethridge was again questioned by Fire Rescue Investigators at his home. He admitted to having a lifelong affinity to fire, and professed his admiration of fire service personnel since his childhood. He also con- fessed to setting two of the four fires, and was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree arson.
Police Arrest 3 In Stolen Car
Winter Haven Police ar- rested one adult and two ju- veniles after a man saw his car being taken while he jogged at Polk State College.
On June 27th at 5 a. m., Christopher Delgado, 32, parked his vehicle at Polk State College while he jogged in the area.
As Delgado was jogging, police said he saw his vehicle being driven out of the park- ing lot. It had been left un- locked.
Delgado called 9-1-1 and officers spotted the stolen car along Avenue O, Northeast. They tried to stop the vehicle and reported that the driver,
VINSON LATIMORE
Dequan Anderson, 17, jumped out and ran. Front seat passenger, Tyrese James, 15, and back seat passenger, Vinson Lati- more, 19, also ran from the vehicle.
With the use of K-9 and a helicopter, James and Lati- more were arrested. Ander- son was later identified and brought to police headquar- ters by his parents.
Anderson was charged with grand theft auto; James was charged with burglary of an unoccupied ve- hicle, conspiracy to commit a felony, resisting officers, petit theft, and violation of the lit- ter law.
Latimore was charged with vehicle trespass. He was booked into the Polk County Jail, and the juveniles were transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center.
PAGE 22-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2016