Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Steven Merrday has sentenced Dr. John Janick (73, Port Charlotte) to five months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for obstructing a Medicare audit. As part of his sentence, Janick is required to pay $118,831.62 in restitution to the Medicare program.

According to the plea agreement, Janick lied to a Medicare program integrity contractor who was auditing Janick Medical Group. Specifically, Janick falsely claimed that a third-party employer was paying rent for office space utilized by his wife, Lisa McLaren Janick. The office space, located within the Janick Medical Group practice, was used by Lisa McLaren Janick to improperly access sensitive patient data that was then used to generate referrals from Dr. Janick to her third- party employer without regard for medical necessity.

Lisa McLaren Janick previously pleaded guilty to health care fraud charges in a related case. In her plea agreement, McLaren Janick acknowledged her role in falsifying Janick Medical Group patient records as part of a scheme to create bogus patient referrals to her third-party employer. McLaren Janick will be sentenced on October 10, 2018.

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel Jones and Gregory Pizzo.