Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaican Marvel Johnson, a 50-year-old resident of Derby, Connecticut, was sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment for making false statements to receive Medicaid benefits.

Johnson was sentenced on Thursday (September 15) by US District Judge Jeffrey Meyer in New Haven. His term will also be followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2008 and 2020, Johnson used false social security numbers to enrol and maintain his enrollment in the Connecticut Medicaid health care benefits programme known as “Husky.”

In November 2015, he called Access Health CT, the agency responsible for administering Medicaid/Husky enrollment for Connecticut and provided false social security numbers in an attempt to receive retroactive insurance coverage for his recently-born son. Johnson did not receive the retroactive coverage for his son, but he and his family continued to remain enrolled in Husky.

Mailed false birth certificate

In 2018, following a verification request by Access Health CT for a citizenship document, Johnson mailed a false New Jersey birth certificate bearing his name. Johnson was, in fact, born in Jamaica. Judge Meyer ordered Johnson to pay restitution of US$150,380.83.

Johnson was arrested on November 19, 2020. On April 28, 2022, he pleaded guilty to making false statements in health care matters.

Johnson, who is released on a US$50,000 bond, is required to report to prison on December 1. The investigation was conducted by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Also participating in the probe were the Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the US Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Office of Fraud Detection and National Security; the US Department of State, Office of Inspector General; and the Connecticut Department of Social Services.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Kenneth Gresham.