(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Indictments filed this month by the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost accuse 16 Medicaid providers of stealing a combined $1.7 million from the government health-care program for the needy.
“Medicaid fraud may be a financial crime, but it comes at a human cost,” Yost said. “It preys on the vulnerable who depend on the program and betrays the trust of the taxpayers who fund it.”
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, an arm of Yost’s office, investigated the cases and secured the indictments in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
The cases include two people who, because of felony convictions, were prohibited from providing services to Medicaid recipients yet received hundreds of thousands of dollars, a home health aide who billed for services while on a cruise to Hawaii, and several providers who billed for home services while their clients were in the hospital.
Among those indicted:
- Ralph Wells, 47, of Ashtabula, drew investigators’ attention after a tip alleged he was billing for services not rendered. Agents with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit found the allegation to be unfounded but learned that Wells had been convicted of murder in West Virginia in 1998 and, consequently, was ineligible to be a Medicaid provider. Despite that, Wells had his employers bill Medicaid $230,936 for services.
- Lineil Massey, 67, of Akron, also was found to be acting illegally as a Medicaid home health care provider after investigators uncovered convictions of involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault. Despite being barred from the program, Massey billed $4,633 for services.
- Neesha Haynes, 39, of Eastlake, was indicted for aggravated theft, a second-degree felony, and Medicaid fraud for improper billing when clients were hospitalized from January 2022 to June 2025. Investigators identified a $819,400 loss to Medicaid. Three people who worked with Haynes also were indicted: Tanesha Timberlake, 37, of East Cleveland, Tiara Jeffries, 40, of Euclid, and Emily Jeffries, of Eastlake.
- Leon Shephard, 36, of Cleveland, was indicted on one count of Medicaid fraud. Between January 2024 and July 2024, he allegedly overbilled for services to seven people, a loss of $488,444 to Medicaid.
- Kyle Cherry, 30, of Chicago, was charged after investigators determined that $129,912 was improperly paid to him for overbilling between August 2024 and July 2025.
- Tanisha Brooks, 40, of Canton, was indicted for Medicaid fraud and theft after an investigation calculated a $3,615 loss to Medicaid. The home health aide is suspected of billing for services not rendered and providing care while under the influence of drugs. A pair of anonymous tips prompted the investigation.
- Jameshia Harkness, 33, of Toledo, allegedly billed for 49 dates of service for which she did not provide care, representing a $8,391 loss to Medicaid.
- Danielle Morgan, 41, of West Union, is accused of submitting bills for services not rendered. She allegedly continued the fraudulent billing even after she was told by a Medicaid recipient to stop coming. In total, she billed for $5,832.
- Sean Sisler, 52, of Lorain, was indicted for Medicaid fraud after investigators determined that he participated in a kickback scheme and received $21,228 he was not due.
- Patricia Gattshall, 41, of Marion, submitted fraudulent timesheets indicating she provided home health services when in reality she was on a cruise from Los Angeles to Hawaii. When confronted with travel records and social media posts proving that she was on the cruise, she initially claimed that the patient accompanied her on the vacation. In total, $1,518 was fraudulently billed to Medicaid.
- Roiesha Pettiford, 41, of Columbus, Gina Dillon-Gardner, 40, of New Carlisle, and Burgandy Jones, 44, of Cleveland, were indicted in separate cases involving a loss to Medicaid of $7,425. They claimed they provided home health services to Medicaid recipients, but investigators later determined that the recipients were in the hospital on the dates that the services were said to be provided.
Ohio’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which operates within the Health Care Fraud Section, collaborates with federal, state and local partners to root out Medicaid fraud and protect vulnerable adults from harm. The unit investigates and prosecutes health-care providers who defraud the state Medicaid program and enforces the state’s Patient Abuse and Neglect Law.
Indictments are criminal allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty in a court of law.
The Ohio Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant totaling $15,343,488 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25% – totaling $5,114,493 for FY 2025 – is funded by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Dominic Binkley: 614-728-4127
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