By News Service of Florida
A 36-year old Jacksonville Beach man pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in a $57.3 million scheme involving substance-abuse treatment centers, rural hospitals and urine testing.
As part of the plea, Kyle Ryan Marcotte, 36, agreed to a forfeiture judgment of $10.2 million. The U.S. Department of Justice alleged the laundering dated to 2015 when Marcotte, the owner of a substance-abuse treatment facility in Jacksonville, first entered into an agreement with a laboratory owner, who was not identified Tuesday in a Justice Department news release.
Marcotte would send the urine for drug testing to the lab which, in turn, arranged contracts with managers at two rural hospitals to have the testing billed under in-network insurance contracts, which have more favorable reimbursements.
The rural hospitals were Campbellton-Graceville Hospital and Regional General Hospital Williston. The insurance reimbursements were transmitted from the rural hospitals to the lab, which then transmitted payments to two companies Marcotte controlled, North Florida Labs and KTL Labs.
The Justice Department news release said KTL Labs made $50 million in payments to 88 companies and individuals associated with substance-abuse treatment centers that supplied urine samples for testing.
