A Michigan pharmacist has been sentenced to 80 months in prison for defrauding health care benefit programs by billing for prescription medications that were never dispensed. According to court documents, Isaiah Okoh, 55, of Sterling Heights, submitted false claims to health care benefit programs from 2019 through 2022 at three pharmacies in Michigan. Okoh and a co-conspirator used forged prescriptions from doctors and billed for drugs that were neither ordered by a doctor nor provided to patients.
The fraudulent activity led to losses exceeding $6 million for Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. In April 2025, Okoh pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. At sentencing, he was ordered to pay nearly $3.9 million in restitution and over $3.2 million in forfeiture, which includes his interest in about $1.2 million of fraudulent proceeds seized by law enforcement.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division stated: “FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.” Special Agent in Charge Reuben Coleman of the FBI Detroit Field Office and Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian J. Schrank of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), also announced the outcome.
Trial Attorneys Jeffrey A. Crapko and Ahmad Huda from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenton Craig Welkener Jr., from the Eastern District of Michigan, managed forfeiture proceedings.
The Justice Department's Fraud Section oversees efforts against health care fraud through its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since its start in March 2007, this program has operated nine strike forces across 27 federal districts and charged more than 5,800 defendants accused of billing federal health care programs and private insurers over $30 billion collectively. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services work with the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services on measures holding providers accountable for involvement in such schemes. Additional information is available at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
