A former doctor and her wife were sentenced in Huntsville, Alabama for multiple crimes including drug offenses, healthcare fraud, and COVID-19 disaster relief fraud. U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona announced the sentencing along with officials from the FBI, DEA, and Department of Health and Human Services.
Judge Liles C. Burke sentenced Francene Aretha Gayle to 87 months in prison for four opioid prescribing charges, health care fraud, and wire fraud. Her wife, Schara Monique Davis, received a 42-month sentence for health care fraud and wire fraud. Both are required to pay $2.2 million in restitution, forfeit $226,815, and pay fines.
The couple admitted their involvement in fraudulent activities from 2014 to early 2020. Gayle operated clinics in Huntsville, Athens, and Killen while Davis managed the business side of operations. In March 2020, Gayle's medical license was revoked due to concerns about her practices.
Their fraudulent activities included billing insurers for office visits under Gayle’s name even when she was not present or involved with patients' consultations. Despite being audited by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama in 2015 who flagged this issue as fraudulent billing continued until the practice closed in 2020.
Additionally, both were involved in a wire fraud scheme where they obtained over $450,000 through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program during the pandemic despite their practice having already shut down.
The investigation was carried out by the FBI, DEA, HHS-OIG with assistance from Alabama Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit following an initial referral from Alabama Medicaid Agency’s Program Integrity Division.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys J.B. Ward and Ryan Rummage prosecuted the case.