New Hampshire woman gets six months in $18G Medicaid fraud case

CONCORD - A 29-year-old New Hampshire woman was sentenced Wednesday for a class A felony charge of Theft by Deception and class B felony charge of Medicaid Fraud - False Claims.

Felisha Cunnigham pleaded pleaded guilty to working in concert with Tucker Bean to cause false Medicaid claims to be filed to steal $17,749.54 in Medicaid funds. Between April 2023 and January 2024, Cunningham participated in the creation and submission of false mileage reimbursement requests for non-emergency medical transportation trips for her and Bean as part of the Family and Friends Mileage Reimbursement Program. According to the Attorney Generals Office, Cunningham represented that she was living in Plymouth and traveled from Plymouth to healthcare appointments in Franklin, a distance of more than 25 miles each way. She also represented that Bean was living in Conway and that she drove him to treatment at the same location in Franklin each day, a distance of approximately 60 miles each way. However, during that period, Bean and Cunningham lived together, primarily in the Franklin/Tilton region, including several months at an apartment approximately one-half mile from the treatment facility.

The Court sentenced Cunningham to serve 12 months at the Merrimack County House of Corrections on the Medicaid Fraud - False Claims charge with six months of the sentence suspended for seven years upon Cunningham's release.

On the Theft by Deception charge, the Court sentenced Cunningham to a term of 2 to 4 years at the New Hampshire State Prison, which is fully suspended for seven years upon her release on the Medicaid Fraud - False Claims sentence. The Theft by Deception sentence will run consecutively to the Medicaid Fraud - False Claims sentence, if imposed. Additional terms of the sentences included restitution of $17,749.54 to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and no further participation in the Family and Friends Mileage Reimbursement Program.