In federal court in Peoria…officials announced a former owner of the Bradley Chiropractic Clinic was sentenced to 33 months in prison for insurance billing fraud and failure to pay federal taxes. 72-year-old Joseph Mayotte was also ordered to repay $410,000 to the insurance company and over $93,500 to the IRS.Mayotte, whose from Kankakee, pleaded guilty in February.

A news release from the U.S. Federal Court showed Mayotte admitted that from January 2007 to October 2015, he submitted false billing claims to defraud Blue Cross Blue Shield. In addition, Mayotte admitted that he failed to file federal income tax returns for tax years 2011 through 2014.

In addition to Mayotte, the clinic’s former office manager, Constance “Connie” Leadingham of Watseka, earlier pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing false income tax returns. She was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for her role in the fraud scheme. She too, filed false income tax returns.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Office of Inspector General; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.

94.1 WGFA