Paducah, KY – Michael Shawn Boaz, 47, of Clinton, was sentenced this week to 30 months in prison and 3 years supervised release for one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and 13 counts of fraudulent prescriptions and ordered to pay restitution of $1,806,212.90.U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Marie Maguire of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, Metro Washington Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Kelly Blackmon of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General made the announcement.On November 3, 2025, Boaz entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and fraudulent prescriptions. According to court documents, while working as licensed pharmacists, Boaz and his co-conspirator fraudulently billed health care benefit programs for customers at two pharmacies in Kentucky. From 2017 through 2021, they caused $2,185,739.52 in losses to health care benefit providers by submitting claims for fraudulent and unauthorized prescriptions. Boaz added boutique vitamins to customer prescription orders. He told customers that the vitamins were “free.” However, Boaz billed the customers’ health care providers between $1,000 and $6,000 for each bottle of vitamins. Boaz also submitted claims for fraudulent and unauthorized prescriptions for the antihistamine Carbinoxamine Maleate. He purchased Carbinoxamine Maleate from a wholesaler for $605 per prescription and billed health care providers between $2,000 and $16,000 for each fraudulent prescription.On August 7, 2025, co-conspirator Christopher Clayton Augustus, 42, of Paducah, entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, fraudulent prescriptions, and aggravated identity theft. He is awaiting sentencing.United States Attorney Kyle Bumgarner stated, “Fraudsters like Boaz that steal from health care benefit programs negatively impact everyone’s health care costs. Health care fraud is a top priority of our office. We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those that defraud our health care programs. It is my fervent hope that Boaz’s prison sentence serves a strong deterrent to other fraudsters in the Western District of Kentucky to stop their fraud now because we will find you and prosecute you.”This case was investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Labor, Kentucky Attorney General’s Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control, and the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy.Assistant U.S. Attorney Raymond McGee of the U.S. Attorney’s Paducah Branch Office prosecuted the case.On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.###
Source: U.S. Department of Justice