ATLANTA - Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker announced today that on Thursday, August 13, 1998, four employees of S & S Convalescent Transportation entered guilty pleas before Judge Hilton Fuller in DeKalb County Superior Court to Medicaid fraud and conspiracy to defraud the state. The pleas of Alesia Solomon Gales, Rhonda Solomon Pinkney, Vanessa Solomon and Dorothy Solomon bring to a close the prosecution of Medicaid fraud arising from the operation of S & S Convalescent Transportation. Previously, on June 26, 1998, Daryl Solomon, the owner of S & S Convalescent Transportation, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve five years in prison. Robert Solomon and Albert Mathis have also entered guilty pleas and are awaiting sentencing. Judge Hilton Fuller sentenced the women, who worked in varying roles in the family business, to ten years probation and 100 hours of community service. All four women were also ordered to pay restitution and fines.

S & S Convalescent Transportation was a family owned non-emergency transportation business. From January 1, 1994, through June 30, 1994, S & S Convalescent Transportation submitted claims to the Department of Medical Assistance for transporting individuals by stretcher, when in fact most individuals transported by S & S Convalescent Transportation were children who rode on regular vans to after school programs. The reimbursement rate for stretcher transportation is ten times more than the rate paid for van trips. During the relevant six-month time period, S & S Convalescent Transportation was paid over one million dollars by the Department of Medical Assistance for fraudulent stretcher trips.

The case was investigated by GBI Special Agent Allan Fetters and Auditor David Walker. The prosecutor in the case was Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth D. Redisch. Throughout the prosecution, the state prosecutors received assistance and support from DeKalb County District Attorney J. Tom Morgan.