1 person sentenced to jail time in Franklin Medicaid fraud scheme

Tucker Bean, 32, was sentenced to at least 1.5 years in prison in connection with a Medicaid fraud scheme.

He was charged with felony theft by deception and felony Medicaid fraud and making false claims as well as falsifying records, according to a press statement from Attorney General John Formella Thursday morning. 

Bean is sentenced to 12 months in the Merrimack County House of Corrections on the false claims charge, with six of those months suspended for five years, contingent on good behavior and cooperation with the terms of his sentence. He was also sentenced to three years probation. 

On the falsifying records charge, Bean is sentenced to an additional 12 months, to be served consecutively. He’s required to meaningfully participate in and complete the Merrimack County Successful Offender Adjustment & Re-entry Program. 

For the theft charge, Bean is sentenced to a fully-suspended, two-to four-year term in New Hampshire State Prison. That sentence will run consecutively if imposed, and is suspended for five years on conditions of good behavior and payment of restitution, jointly with Felisha Cunningham, who was also accused in the scheme. 

Bean is prohibited from participation in the Friends and Family Mileage Reimbursement Program. 

He pleaded guilty in Merrimack County Superior Court to conspiring with Cunningham to file false Medicaid claims, resulting in the theft of $17,749.54 in Medicaid funds. Between April 2023 and January 2024, Bean submitted fraudulent mileage reimbursement requests through the Friends and Family Mileage Reimbursement Program for non-emergency medical transportation, Formella wrote in the release. 

Bean claimed to live in North Conway and travel 60 miles each way to medical appointments in Franklin and, simultaneously, Cunningham claimed to live in Plymouth and travel about 25 miles each way to the same medical facility. Bean and Cunningham actually lived together, mostly in the Tilton and Franklin area the whole time, including a several-month stint in an apartment located 0.5 miles from the treatment center. 

Financial Investigator Timothy Brackett and Investigator John Lannon of the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit led the investigation, with assistance from the Conway, Franklin, and Tilton police departments, as well as New Hampshire Probation and Parole. The case was prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

“The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates and prosecutes fraud by health care providers who treat Medicaid beneficiaries,” the release reads. “Health care providers include, but are not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, dentists, pharmacies, ambulance companies, and anyone else who is paid for providing health care services to Medicaid beneficiaries. If you would like to report a case of provider fraud, please contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at 603-271-1246.”

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a $1 million grant. The remaining 25%, about $344,185 for this fiscal year, is funded by the State of New Hampshire.