GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida has found a Gainesville woman who owned one durable medical equipment (DME) business and managed several others guilty of participating in a scheme that exploited elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries. The operation led to more than $8.6 million in fraudulent claims being submitted to Medicare.
Court records and evidence presented during the trial showed that Sophie Dufort, 57, of Gainesville, worked with Paula Pirone, 70, of Ocala, and others to submit false Medicare claims supported by fraudulent physician orders for orthotic braces.
Investigators said Dufort and her co-conspirators obtained the purported prescriptions illegally from marketing companies that used aggressive, deceptive telemarketing tactics to collect personal information from Medicare beneficiaries. After complaints arose because voices on recorded calls did not match the beneficiaries, one conspirator acknowledged that “some of the calls from overseas would be faked” to support bogus prescriptions. The marketing companies paid medical professionals to sign brace orders without examining or speaking with patients, while also stealing physicians’ credentials to produce counterfeit prescriptions that were sold to Dufort’s DME companies and those of her associates.
The companies then sent braces to Medicare beneficiaries and billed the program millions of dollars, even though many recipients neither wanted nor needed the equipment and had not been evaluated by a physician. A medical expert testified that using certain combinations of braces could be “very dangerous” for elderly Medicare patients. When beneficiaries complained or sought to return the equipment, they were allegedly told to “just get rid of them or . . . just pass them down,” allowing Dufort and her co-conspirators to avoid repaying Medicare.
Dufort was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, two counts of health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to offer and pay illegal kickbacks, and offering and paying illegal kickbacks. She faces up to 20 years in prison for the health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, up to 10 years for each health care fraud and kickback count, and up to five years for the conspiracy to defraud the United States and offer and pay illegal kickbacks. Her sentencing hearing is set for January 2027. A federal district judge will determine the sentence after weighing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and Middle District of Florida U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the conviction. The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
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Trial Attorney Jody King of the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hamilton of the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the formation of its Fraud Division, which is focused on investigating and prosecuting fraud against the American people. The department said its anti-fraud efforts support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a government-wide initiative chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to combat fraud, waste and abuse in federal benefit programs.
The Justice Department’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program now includes nine strike forces operating in federal districts nationwide. Since 2007, the program has charged more than 6,200 defendants accused of collectively billing federal health care programs and private insurers for more than $45 billion. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working with the HHS Office of Inspector General, are also pursuing measures to hold providers accountable for participating in health care fraud schemes. Additional information is available at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.