Missouri chiropractor and cop plead guilty to accident kickback scheme

A St. Louis chiropractor and his wife pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a health care fraud that included bribing police officers to provide them with accident reports.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mitchell Davis and his wife used the unredacted accident reports to find potential patients and then told those patients to exaggerate their pain and other symptoms to get bigger insurance settlements. Davis was paid through a portion of those settlements.

“This type of fraud affects more than the individuals involved. If the companies being defrauded pass on the cost, you end up paying more for insurance,” Richard Quinn, special agent in charge of the FBI St. Louis Division, said in a news release. “It is particularly egregious when the fraud is committed by those in positions of public trust.”

Davis pleaded guilty to making false statements relating to healthcare matters and conspiracy to commit bribery. Both carry sentences of up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. His wife pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to gain illegal access to a protected St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department computer and faces up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $100,000, or both.

Terri Owens, an officer with the police department, pleaded guilty to one count of accepting bribes, a charge that carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

Sentencing for all three is set for March 9, 2018.

As part of the plea deal, Davis said the scheme was worth about $550,000 to him and his wife.

Two other former St. Louis police department officers, Marlon Caldwell and Cauncenet Brown, were accused of participating in the scheme in indictments filed Wednesday.

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Missouri chiropractor and cop plead guilty to accident kickback scheme."