A National City man who was the only South Bay resident charged with conspiracy in connection to a medical referral fee case will be sentenced Jan. 9 in U.S. District Court.
Julian Estrada Garcia, 33, provided medical equipment to chiropractors and was charged in 2015 with improperly billing Workers Compensation insurance companies and offering to pay $50 per patient who was referred to him.
Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s office said Garcia paid $5,000 in cash to a medical professional to get patients referred to him so he could sell hot/cold packs, which were used for swelling and injuries.
These devices were then billed to the California Worker’s Compensation insurance program. The scheme was considered illegal because patients’ names would be sold without their knowledge and deprived of their doctors’ honest services.
It is possible Garcia could be placed on probation when he is sentenced. There is no restitution requested, according to court records. The maximum sentence is 20 years in federal prison.
Garcia was among seven others charged with buying and selling patients’ names unlawfully whose indictments were announced in a joint press conference in Nov., 2015 with California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy, and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.
The other co-defendants were based in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, San Clemente, and Garden Grove. Garcia remains free on $25,000 bond.
