How much money is a dentist’s dental hygiene bill?
A California judge has sentenced a dentist who pleaded guilty to paying a woman more than $1,000 in dental floss in exchange for her agreeing to remove a denture that she said she’d been wearing for years.
The sentencing, announced Monday by District Judge James L. O’Donnell, was one of several in recent months in which a number of California counties have sentenced people to jail time for failing to report fraudulent health insurance claims.
Lori Williams, 47, of Sacramento, was sentenced to five years in jail in April after pleading guilty to two felony counts of making false statements to federal and state health inspectors.
Williams, who was charged in October, pleaded guilty in March to one count of tampering with records, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
He also pleaded guilty on a misdemeanor charge of falsifying documents.
A dental hygienist at the Riverside Health District in California, Williams has faced several criminal and civil penalties in recent years, including a misdemeanor conviction for making false health claims.
In November, he pleaded guilty after a California judge sentenced him to six months in jail for making misleading statements to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors about his health care practices.
In February, Williams pleaded guilty and was sentenced in federal court to five months in prison for making two false health claim statements to a California inspector.
In September, he was sentenced by a federal judge in Los Angeles to six days in jail and fined $2,500.
His wife, Sarah Williams, was also sentenced to two years in prison and fined in December for lying to federal investigators about her husband’s medical history.
The judge also ordered Williams to pay $1.7 million in restitution to a woman who said she was paid $8,000 for a toothbrush and other dental services.
O’Donnell said he hoped Williams would serve his sentence in a manner that would prevent him from reoffending.
A California judge has sentenced a dentist who pleaded guilty to paying a woman more than $1,000 in dental floss…
