PUTNAM CO. WOMAN PLEDS GUILTY TO TENNCARE FRAUD CHARGES

NASHVILLE - A Putnam County woman has pleaded guilty to TennCare fraud.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced today that Amanda Maynard, 25, of Cookeville, pleaded guilty to six counts of TennCare fraud. She was arrested in July of 2006 on an indictment accusing her of presenting six forged prescriptions to local pharmacies, and paying for the prescriptions with TennCare.

The cooperation we receive from local pharmacies and law enforcement agencies has been invaluable in our effort to stop prescription drug fraud in the TennCare program," Inspector General Deborah Y. Faulkner said. "Officials at all levels across the state have intensified efforts to detect TennCare fraud, and know they can count on us to pursue these cases in their communities".

District Attorney General William E. Gibson of Cookeville prosecuted the case. Maynard received a sentence of 4 years for each count to run concurrent with each other, suspended to supervised probation.

Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982 toll-free from anywhere in Tennessee, or log on to www.tennessee.gov/tenncare and follow the prompts that read "Report Fraud Now".