ULSTER, Pa. (WETM) – A Bradford County nurse who wrote thousands of fraudulent prescriptions and gave up her license has been sentenced to probation and home confinement and will pay back over $400,000.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office announced that Stefanie King, 46, was sentenced to 10 years of probation and will have to pay $450,000 in restitution to Community Care Behavioral Health Organization and Highmark. The first six months of her sentence will be home confinement with an electronic monitor.
The sentencing stems from February 2022 charges that accused King of writing over 3,750 prescriptions without meeting the requirements of Pennsylvania law while she owned The Center for Holistic and Integrative Mental Health (CHIMH). She also falsely billed $300,000 to private insurers and $100,000 to the Commonwealth. King was also accused of misleading former physician collaborators and “renewed previous agreements without their knowledge.”
In March 2023, King pleaded guilty to four felony charges for insurance and Medicaid fraud, as well as for violating the Controlled Substance Act. As part of her plea, she agreed to give up her nurse practitioner license and not practice as a nurse during her sentence.
“The defendant abused her position of trust by engaging in conduct that served herself and violated a system meant to assist our most vulnerable residents,” said AG Michelle Henry. “My office is committed to holding accountable those who put patients at risk and compromise our health care programs.”
The AG’s announcement said starting in 2016, King started a sexual relationship with a patient and billed his private insurance for their therapy sessions. The relationship continued for several months until she started a sexual relationship with another patient in the spring of 2017. The AG said that King discontinued his medical care but continued to prescribe controlled substances to him without collaborating with any physicians.
