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A man, who along with his wife, was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison for a multi-million dollar Medicaid fraud scheme is claiming his attorney was ineffective for advising him his wife could be compelled to testify against him and that his sentence included past firearm and RICO enhancements.

The latest court documents in the case of Timothy Mark Harron also bring to light a past fraud scheme in which he served federal time before the Medicaid case.

While Mr. Harron’s motion to appoint counsel was denied, Chief Judge Richard E. Myers II has granted an extension of time to respond to a recent government motion in the case, setting a January 30 deadline, according to electronic court documents.

Mr. Harron, along with his wife Latisha, operated home health services in Roanoke Rapids and Ahoskie and also committed Medicaid fraud from their Las Vegas penthouse and places around the globe, previous court documents have shown.

Garnishment proceedings have been set so that the $4,321,590.39 bilked can be repaid to the North Carolina Medicaid Program.

Mrs. Harron received a 14-year sentence last year.

Letter to judge

Mr. Harron in a letter to Myers requested in a motion for the court to appoint counsel because he “is a layperson with very limited legal resources in federal prison” and that the government’s motion to dismiss “contains very complex legal issues.”

The court has concluded that the interests of justice do not require appointment of counsel but that the court does “find good cause for granting the petitioner’s request for additional time to respond to the government’s motion.”

The court said that Mr. Harron’s allegations reflect that his attorney’s advice was correct regarding his wife being compelled to testify and that he was not prejudiced by any alleged ineffectiveness in representation.

As far as the past firearm and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act enhancements, the court said the district court’s calculation of his advisory guideline range is not cognizable in this proceeding “and is otherwise contradicted by the record.”

Past fraud scheme

The latest developments in Mr. Harron’s case shows that after two misdemeanor and felony convictions between 2009 and 2011 he engaged in a scheme to defraud individuals who were seeking to purchase items on the internet. “The defendant's principal role was to serve as the link between the person who recruited the defendant into the scheme and the numerous individuals who the defendant recruited to open shell companies and bank accounts to receive money from victims.”

The recruiter in the scheme coordinated with its leaders, who were located in Eastern Europe. “During the commission of the instant offense, victims contacted the putative seller of an item over the internet and made arrangements to purchase the item.”

The victim would be sent an electronic mail message that appeared to be from the website where the item was listed for sale; however, the electronic mail message was fraudulent. The victims would subsequently wire money to certain bank accounts, but no item was ever sent in return. 

On October 3, 2012, Mr. Harron pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering.

He was sentenced to 37 months and 10 days imprisonment as well as three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay restitution of $1,024,882.

On January 17, 2014, Mr. Harron was released to supervision which was completed on January 9, 2017.

Following his release from supervision, Mr. Harron and his wife engaged in a fraudulent billing scheme to defraud the North Carolina Medicaid Program. 

Mr. Harron was the president of a home health care service provider company that had no legitimate patient revenue and was instead funded entirely by fraudulent billings to Medicaid for fictitious services. 

Investigation determined that he commenced his involvement in the fraudulent scheme no later than February 2019. 

United States attorney’s argument

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Micheal F. Easley Jr. argued the following:

That Mr. Harron failed to allege a plausible claim of ineffective counsel

That his challenge to his advisory guideline is contradicted by the record and that his pre-sentence report reflects no enhancements and that his judgment was void of any firearm or RICO factors.

Mr. Harron’s claims are precluded by his plea agreement

Mr. Harron’s claims have been procedurally defaulted

“In order to demonstrate that a miscarriage of justice would result from the refusal of the court to entertain the collateral attack, a petitioner must show actual innocence by clear and convincing evidence,” Easley wrote.