A Houston man who federal authorities say pumped nearly $60 million in bogus claims into Medicare has been sentenced to seven and a half years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $25 million in restitution. Prosecutors say Patrick Cassells used some of the scheme’s proceeds to buy personal vehicles and cars he intended to export to Nigeria. The sentence was announced on March 6, 2026.
According to a post by FBI Houston, Cassells will spend 7.5 years behind bars and must repay more than $25 million in restitution after submitting almost $60 million in fraudulent Medicare claims. Investigators said the proceeds helped bankroll both personal vehicles and multiple cars meant for export to Nigeria.
Public records list a Patrick K. Cassells as the authorized official for Alphamed Healthcare Systems in Houston, according to NPI Profile. Provider listings like these are the kind of paperwork investigators pore over when they are tracing who is actually behind large streams of Medicare billing.
Part Of A Broader Enforcement Push
Federal investigators and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General have been chasing dozens of large health care fraud and false-claims cases that climb into the tens of millions of dollars, and their public logs show just how often this kind of thing comes up. The HHS Office of Inspector General catalogs criminal and civil enforcement actions, and prior reporting by the Houston Chronicle has detailed earlier Houston-based schemes where illicit proceeds and vehicles were moved overseas, including to Nigeria.
Legal Consequences And Restitution
The federal health care fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1347, carries penalties that can include both prison time and fines. The Legal Information Institute notes that the law provides for up to 10 years in prison, and up to 20 years if the fraud results in serious bodily injury. Courts can also order criminal restitution, and the Congressional Research Service explains how mandatory restitution under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act is calculated and enforced…