Three More Plead Guilty In 1st Adult N Pediatric Healthcare Fraud Case

LYNCHBURG, Va. - Three former employees of 1^st Adult N Pediatric Healthcare, including the director of nursing, pled guilty today to healthcare fraud and misprision charges.

Shekita Gore, a.k.a. Shekita Steele, 38, of Clinton, Maryland, and Eno Utuk, 47, of Stafford, Virginia, pled guilty today to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. At sentencing, both defendants face a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Elizabeth Ilome, 41, also of Stafford, Virginia, pled guilty today to misprision of a felony. Ilome faces a maximum possible penalty of 3 years in prison.

In recent weeks, Carolyn Bryant-Taylor, 61, of Clinton, Maryland, Kafomdi "Josephine" Okocha, 49, and Samuel Okocha, 52, both of Upper Marlboro, Maryland all pled guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

According to court documents, Bryant-Taylor, Josephine Okocha, and Samuel Okocha were owners and operators of 1st Adult N Pediatric Healthcare Service, a Medicaid-enrolled home health agency providing private duty nursing, personal care, and respite care services throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, including in the Western District of Virginia. Gore was the director of nursing, while Utuk and Ilome were employed by 1st Adult to provide nursing and personal care.

The defendants conspired to submit false claims to Medicaid for services that were not provided to patients, including falsifying records and documentation in support of the fraudulent claims submitted for reimbursement.

Gore admitted to filling out blank nursing notes to support the nursing services that 1^st Adult billed Medicaid for but were not provided.

As part of this scheme, between 2017 and 2023, Bryant-Taylor and her co-defendant, Josephine Okocha, planned arrangements to pay the parents or guardians of patients in exchange for blank, signed nursing notes which would be filled out and used to support billing to Medicaid. In these arrangements, the amount billed to Medicaid either reflected nursing services that were not provided at all, or an amount of nursing services that was in excess of what was provided.

Utuk and Ilome both worked to provide personal care to patients. They admitted to paying cash to the family members of those they provided care in exchange for signing blank nursing notes that would be used to bill Medicaid for skilled nursing services and personal care services that were not actually provided.

Robert N. Tracci, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Stephen Farina of the FBI's Richmond Division made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virginia Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are investigating the case, with assistance from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Jones and Laura Taylor, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Terry, a Senior Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Attorney General's Office, are prosecuting the case.