The United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of Florida

Public Affairs Office:
Alicia Valle
Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney
(305) 961-9153
Public Affairs Fax
(305) 530-7055

February 25, 2009

                                                               

NEWS RELEASE :

MIAMI LAKES MAN SENTENCED TO 140 MONTHS IN MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND MONEY LAUNDERING SCAM

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that defendant Jimmy A. Soto, of Miami Lakes, was sentenced on February 24, 2009, for his participation in a $5.4 million health care fraud and money laundering scheme. U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga sentenced Soto to 140 months' imprisonment.

In December 2008, after a week long trial, a Miami jury convicted Soto of a series of related health care fraud and money laundering charges. The evidence at trial established that Soto conspired with Leonardo Lozada, Eliades Diaz, and Jose D. Claro to defraud Medicare through the fraudulent submission of $5.4 million in durable medical equipment (DME) claims during 2005 and 2006. The claims concerned a Hialeah-based DME company operating as Med-Pro of Miami, Inc ("Med-Pro"). Medicare paid Med-Pro approximately $1.3 million based on the bogus claims, which were for DME items that were neither prescribed by doctors nor delivered to Medicare patients, most of whom resided in the Treasure Coast area of Florida.

Soto, a well known motorcycle mechanic, was also found guilty of laundering more than a $1million in monies stolen from Medicare. At trial, it was established that Soto recruited his customers and friends to cash several hundred thousand dollars worth of checks for Med-Pro during 2006.

The case came to the attention of the FBI's Fort Pierce Resident Agency after numerous Treasure Coast residents contacted that FBI office to complain about Med-Pro's submission of fraudulent claims to Medicare. Judge Altonaga previously sentenced Soto's co-conspirators: Eliades Diaz was sentenced to 80 months in prison; Leonardo Lozada was sentenced to 46 months in prison; and Jose D. Claro was sentenced to 31 months in prison.

U.S. Attorney Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Parente, Jr. and Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis M. Perez.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.