Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MARVEL JOHNSON, 50, a citizen of Jamaica residing in Derby, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to 12 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for making false statements to receive Medicaid benefits.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between approximately 2008 and 2020, Johnson used false social security numbers to enroll and maintain his enrollment in the Connecticut Medicaid health care benefits program known as “Husky.” In November 2015, called Access Health CT, the agency responsible for administering Medicaid/Husky enrollment for Connecticut, and provided false social security numbers in an attempt to receive retroactive insurance coverage for his recently-born son. Johnson did not receive the retroactive coverage for his son, but he and his family continued to remain enrolled in Husky. In 2018, following a verification request by Access Health CT for a citizenship document, Johnson mailed a false New Jersey birth certificate bearing his name. Johnson was, in fact, born in Jamaica.
Judge Meyer ordered Johnson to pay restitution of $150,380.83
Johnson was arrested on November 19, 2020. On April 28, 2022, he pleaded guilty to making false statements in health care matters.
Johnson, who is released on a $50,000 bond, is required to report to prison on December 1.
This investigation was conducted by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Office of Fraud Detection and National Security; the U.S. Department of State, Office of Inspector General; and the Connecticut Department of Social Services. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Gresham.