Two Erie County men, Aaron Hertel of North East and Michael Brown of Erie, were each sentenced to six years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud. According to federal officials, the pair led a scheme at Hertel & Brown Physical and Aquatic Therapy that used unlicensed technicians to treat patients while billing insurers as if licensed therapists had provided care, overbilled for treatment time and falsified schedules to meet Medicare requirements, resulting in significant taxpayer losses; restitution will be determined at an April hearing.
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