Husband and Wife Sentenced for $65 Million TRICARE Fraud

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – January 25, 2024

SAN DIEGO - Jimmy and Ashley Collins, a married couple living in Birchwood, Tennessee, were sentenced in federal court today for orchestrating a health care fraud scheme that bilked TRICARE – the health care program that covers United States service members – out of more than $65 million.

Jimmy Collins received a 10-year prison sentence and was immediately taken into custody; Ashley Collins was sentenced to 18 months home confinement. The couple was ordered to pay $65,679,512.71 in restitution to Defense Health Agency and TRICARE.

The couple pleaded guilty in July 2023, admitting they worked with others to recruit sham TRICARE beneficiaries, mainly Marines from southern California who agreed to receive expensive, compounded medications in return for a kickback of approximately $300. Doctors and a nurse practitioner at Choice MD, a Tennessee medical clinic owned and operated by the Collinses, then wrote prescriptions for the sham TRICARE beneficiaries, despite never examining the patients.

Choice MD sent the prescriptions to The Medicine Shoppe, a small pharmacy in Bountiful, Utah, which filled the prescriptions and later received reimbursement from TRICARE.  At the peak of the conspiracy, The Medicine Shoppe billed TRICARE over $10,000 (and at times upwards of $20,000) per fraudulent compounded prescription. 

Between December 2014 and May 9, 2015 – the day TRICARE stopped reimbursing for compounded medications – the conspirators wrote thousands of fraudulent prescriptions amounting to $65,679,512 in fraudulent reimbursements.

The owners of The Medicine Shoppe then paid kickbacks to the Collinses based on a percentage of the TRICARE reimbursement. Between approximately February and July 2015, these kickback payments to the Collinses totaled at least $45.7 million dollars. The Collinses, in turn, kicked back a small percentage of that money (approximately 10 percent) to recruiters working as part of their network, including defendants Josh Morgan, Kyle Adams, and Daniel Castro.

Authorities seized numerous items and properties purchased by the Collinses and others with the proceeds of the fraud: an 82-foot yacht; multiple luxury vehicles, including two Aston Martins; a multimillion-dollar investment annuity; gold and silver bars; dozens of pieces of farm equipment and tractor-trailer trucks; and three pieces of Tennessee real estate.

The Collinses are the latest members of the conspiracy to be sentenced. The doctors who prescribed the compounded creams, and the corporate owner of the pharmacy that filled these prescriptions, were previously sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. The patient recruiters and the nurse practitioner who facilitated the conspiracy await sentencing.

“Access to medical care is not a benefit for the service member, it’s a benefit to the rest of America to have a healthy and well cared for military force,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “Today, defendants who defrauded millions of tax dollars intended for the care of our nation’s service members were held accountable for their crimes. Yachts and Aston Martins are a fantasy now, and prison is the reality.”

“Today’s sentencing demonstrates the commitment of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), and our law enforcement partners, to aggressively pursue illegal actions that pilfer taxpayer funds and degrade our military healthcare system,” said Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Gregory Shilling, DCIS Southwest Field Office.  “DCIS will continue to diligently investigate these schemes in order to protect our service members and their families.”

“TRICARE fraud is not a victimless crime; it is theft of taxpayer dollars that would be directly used in support of the health and readiness of our warfighters,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Greg Gross of the NCIS Economic Crimes Field Office, “Today’s sentencing demonstrates NCIS’ and our law enforcement partners’ dedication to ensure the integrity of our government programs for the sake of the U.S. military and taxpaying public.”

DEFENDANTS                                 Case Number: 18-CR-0432-JLS

Jimmy Collins                                     Age: 59                       Birchwood, TN

Ashley Collins                                    Age: 37                       Birchwood, TN

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Jimmy Collins:

Receipt of Illegal Remuneration, in violation of 42 U.S.C. §1320(a)-7b(b)(1)(A)

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison and $100,000 fine or double loss amount, whichever is greater

An order of restitution requiring defendant to repay at least $65,679,512.71 to DHA/TRICARE

Ashley Collins:

Conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine or double loss amount, whichever is greater

An order of restitution requiring defendant to repay at least $65,679,512.71 to DHA/TRICARE

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Defense Criminal Investigative Service

Naval Criminal Investigative Service

IRS Criminal Investigation Division, Gulfport, MS

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Jackson, MS Field Office