All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Upshur woman pays restitution, gets probation for Medicaid fraud

Keys

BUCKHANNON — An Upshur County woman who had been convicted of Medicaid fraud was sentenced to supervised probation and community service in Upshur County Circuit Court last week.

According to a press release from the office of West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Skywaterblue Keys, 44, of Buckhannon, was sentenced last week after she was convicted of attempting to bill Medicaid for care of someone who had already died.

Keys was sentenced last week after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud and agreeing to pay full restitution.

The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated and prosecuted each case.

Keys pleaded guilty in April to three counts of felony Medicaid fraud in Upshur County Circuit Court, according to the press release and received a three to 30-year sentence in the state penitentiary, which was suspended upon her payment of full restitution of $1,973.40. She was also placed on supervised probation for three years and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service.

The conviction stems from allegations that Keys attempted to bill Medicaid for performing caregiver services between March 20, 2020, and April 12, 2020, for a Medicaid member who had died on March 19, 2020.

Anyone who suspects potential Medicaid fraud should report information to the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit tipline at 888-372-8398 or via the Attorney General’s website at www.wvago.gov.

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