On Monday, January 14, 2013, Romona Ferrell-Davis pleaded guilty in DeKalb County Superior Court to four counts of computer theft (O.C.G.A. § 16-9-93(a)(1)), one count of computer invasion of privacy (O.C.G.A. § 16-9-93(c)) and one count of identity fraud (O.C.G.A. § 16-9-121 (a)(1). Judge Cynthia Becker sentenced Ferrell-Davis to twenty years. Three of those years will be served in prison. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $17,533.52.

Ferrell-Davis was employed by Hewlett-Packard (HP), fiscal intermediary for the Georgia Department of Community Health, from November 10, 2010 to October 11, 2011. On October 7, 2011, and again on October 11, 2011, Ferrell-Davis entered the Georgia Medicaid Management Information System (GAMMIS) at HP and changed the bank routing numbers and account numbers of four Medicaid providers to the account numbers of three pre-paid debit cards that she controlled. Two of the debit cards were in her name. Ferrell-Davis had also applied for a third card in the name of a Medicaid member whose identifying information she accessed in the GAMMIS without authority. As a result, she appropriated approximately $8,828,972.75 in Medicaid payments. With the help of the debit card companies, the Department of Community Health recovered all but $17,533.52.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Nancy Allstrom of the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit prosecuted the case for the State of Georgia. The case was investigated by Chief Investigator Cameron Rabbitt and Investigative Auditor Cliff Finney, with the assistance of Criminal Analysts Carmen Staley and Kirste Young and the Department of Community Health Inspector General’s Office.