On May 9, 2011, a Randolph County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Eddie Leon Castleberry, owner of Castle Medical, a durable medical equipment company in Cuthbert. From May 10, 2007, to June 16, 2010, Castleberry submitted claims to the Georgia Medicaid program for durable medical equipment and diabetic testing supplies that were never provided to the recipients.

An investigation revealed a repetitive billing pattern in which Castleberry repeatedly billed the same equipment to patients’ Medicaid numbers, sometimes as many as four or five times in a two-year period, even though the equipment had never been delivered to the patient. The loss to the Georgia Medicaid program is over $195,000.00.

Castleberry is charged with one count of Medicaid Fraud (O.C.G.A. § 49-4-146.1(b)), a felony punishable by up to ten years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $10,000.00, for allegedly accepting medical assistance payments in amounts greater than he was entitled to receive.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Nancy Allstrom is prosecuting the case on behalf of the State of Georgia. The case was investigated by Shakethia Morgan, Cliff Finney, Beth Teague, Tish Murray and Bill Bruce of the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and Georgana Cannon of the Georgia Department of Community Health.

Members of the public should keep in mind that indictments contain only allegations against the individual(s) against whom the indictment is sought. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and it will be the government’s burden at trial to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the allegations contained in the indictment.