Brad D. Schimel, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on March 19, 2026, Lakia Jackson (age 36) was sentenced to 60 months’ incarceration for committing a healthcare fraud scheme through which she stole $2,655,463.63 from a Medicaid benefit meant to help at-risk pregnant women and women with young children.On December 2, 2025, Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. The guilty plea followed a 20-count indictment that was issued on October 16, 2024. When Jackson pleaded guilty, she acknowledged that she engaged in a scheme to defraud Wisconsin Medicaid by, among other things, offering women kickbacks in exchange for their Medicaid numbers and falsely billing Wisconsin Medicaid as though she provided reimbursable services—almost always the maximum permitted per month under the program—when, in fact, she and her employees provided few to no covered services.As part of her plea agreement, Jackson acknowledged that “by committing this fraudulent scheme, she enriched herself at the expense of the community she was supposed to be helping, and that she thereby reduced the resources available to mothers and babies at risk for negative birth outcomes, including infant death.”Jackson’s sentencing followed Chief Judge Pamela Pepper’s sentencing of two other women this year who engaged in similar fraudulent schemes related to the prenatal care coordination benefit. Those women, Precious Cruse and Markita Barnes, were sentenced by Chief Judge Pepper to 111 months’ imprisonment and 121 months’ imprisonment, respectively.In announcing the sentence, Chief Judge Pepper discussed the substantial negative impact Jackson’s fraud scheme, and others like it in the Milwaukee area, have had not only on public trust in government benefit programs, but also on the availability of the benefit program she defrauded. Chief Judge Pepper noted that, unlike Barnes and Cruse, Jackson fully accepted responsibility for her conduct and expressed significant remorse for her crimes.In addition to the 60-month period of incarceration, Chief Judge Pepper issued a money judgment of forfeiture in the amount of $2,361,799.17 and ordered Ms. Jackson to pay restitution to Medicaid in the same amount.“Judge Pepper summarized the seriousness of this very well when she observed that the defendant took a huge amount of money designed to help people in great need and that, due to this massive fraud, not only are millions of dollars in public benefits gone, but decision-makers in government are reluctant to fund programs like this in the future. Many at-risk pregnant women and new moms will not get the help they need,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Schimel. “We must learn a lesson from these cases: public benefit programs must have barriers in place to prevent fraud. Unfortunately, the lack of safeguards made these massive thefts far too easy.”“Lakia Jackson defrauded the American people and stole from programs meant to help at-risk mothers and young children by offering kickbacks and falsely billing Medicaid. The FBI will aggressively pursue individuals who cheat our healthcare programs,” said FBI Milwaukee Special Agent in Charge Alan Karr. “The FBI, along with our partners, will work diligently to identify, investigate, and bring justice to those who commit fraud and steal from the American taxpayer.”“Public benefits can provide critical resources to those in need of them,” said Attorney General Kaul. “We are committed to holding individuals who defraud Medicaid accountable.”The Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Medicaid Fraud Control and Elder Abuse Unit, investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorneys Julie F. Stewart and Kate M…
Source: U.S. Department of Justice