Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 7, 1991 TAG: 9102070543
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
The sentence was 10 years shorter than recommended by a jury last fall after a five-day trial.
Circuit Judge William Sweeney sentenced William Harris on two felony charges: conspiring to steal from the Medicare program and defrauding Medicaid. The jury also had found Harris guilty of a third felony, but Sweeney said he would take that charge under advisement.
"I am one who respects jury verdicts," Sweeney said, adding that he rarely tampers with their decisions.
In this case, though, Sweeney said he was "somewhat concerned and worried" about the disparity between the jury's sentence for Harris and the sentence served by the chiropractor who co-owned and ran the joint medical-chiropractic clinic where Harris worked in Forest.
Paul Heaton, whom authorities have described as the central character in the conspiracy to steal from the state and federal insurance programs, had pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement.
Originally indicted on six felony counts, Heaton pleaded guilty to two and was sentenced to a year in jail, as well as given a suspended sentence. He served about 90 days.
Heaton's wife, who co-owned the Forest clinic, was sentenced to 90 days as part of another plea agreement.
Harris had been paid an annual salary by the Heatons.
Authorities say the Heatons and Harris managed to collect $217,000 from Medicaid and Medicare for services they didn't perform or for work not covered under those programs.
Harris' attorney, Robert Rider, had asked Sweeney to suspend all of the prison sentence - in order to make his sentence more equal to the Heatons' punishments and to follow the state's sentencing guidelines for similar crimes.
Rider called on Sweeney to "to correct a grossly disparate sentence."
"Factually, his involvement was not as great as Mr. and Mrs. Heaton," Rider said.
But Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Philip Baker asked Sweeney to "give great pause to tamper with the word of the people." A jury sentence, Baker said, was the only chance for "the people out here to tell us what they think about the criminal justice system."
Baker said he would not apologize for the plea agreement he reached in the Heatons' cases. The fact that the Heatons admitted their guilt was worth something, he said.
And though their punishments may not have included as much jail time as Harris', other issues balanced the sentences, Baker said. The Heatons' "fall from grace, loss of dignity, loss of livelihood - those were all factored into the [plea] agreements," Baker said.
Just before Sweeney sentenced him, Harris asked to make a statement, in which he calmly maintained his innocence.
"I do not admit to anything. I am not guilty," Harris said. "I have respect for the law; I haven't made up my mind about the system."
Just before Harris' sentencing, Heaton, who left the Bedford County Jail in November, returned to the courtroom in his own case.
Baker has alleged that Heaton has not surrendered all of his assets as promised as part of his plea agreement. If Heaton is found guilty of that at a March 21 hearing, Heaton could be held in contempt of court and be sent back to prison to serve the sentence that was previously suspended.
On Wednesday, Heaton said he was indigent and needed court-appointed counsel.
Sweeney did not agree.
Describing Heaton as "vague and evasive" on questions about his finances, Sweeney said he was "not convinced the taxpayers of Virginia should underwrite" Heaton's hearing.
The former chiropractor told the judge he has had little financial success at his new job selling used ski equipment in Richmond.
by CNB