The jury deliberated for 2½ days before returning guilty verdicts on 40-year-old Antoine Johnson. His mother, Lawanda Johnson, was convicted on 24 counts of health care fraud and six counts of filing false income-tax returns. U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton will sentence them Feb. 3.
Johnson once operated clinics in Tacoma, Lakewood, Lacey and Aberdeen. Investigators said Johnson was prescribing Oxycodone and Methadone to hundreds, possibly thousands, of patients who sometimes weren’t even examined.
Evidence introduced at trial showed Johnson’s clinics billed Medicaid and Labor and Industries for high-level service even when the patient only had their vitals taken for a new prescription, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The Johnsons closed their clinics in 2009 after search warrants were executed at the clinics and the home of Lawanda Johnson, who managed business operations. They were later found in Madagascar and brought back to face charges. The state has revoked Johnson’s license to practice medicine.
