Man sentenced for Medicaid fraud

A 39-year-old Spokane businessman has been sentenced to four years in prison for Medicaid fraud that federal prosecutors say cost a Montana nursing home patient his ability to walk.

Jesse A. Marcel III also was ordered to pay $185,598 in restitution when U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon sentenced him Thursday in Great Falls. Marcel pleaded guilty to submitting false Medicaid claims.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office in Great Falls, Marcel improperly siphoned so much money from the Prairie Vista Manor nursing home in Big Sandy, Mont., that the home was unable to provide essential care to patients or to pay its bills.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services ordered the Prairie Vista Manor to close in June 2001, but lack of care had already caused one patient to fall so many times that he lost his hard-won ability to walk.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer said the patient was a Medicaid beneficiary who required a high level of care for aggressive behavior, mental retardation and other mental problems including recurring seizures and depression.

Originally confined to a wheelchair, the man had begun to walk and dress himself independently before Northwest Senior Care Association took over the nursing home.

By late 1999, Marcel, who was one of the association’s owners, took control of Prairie Vista Manor’s financial operations and began diverting a large portion of the home’s monthly revenues, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Investigators found that Marcel had deprived the nursing home of more than $270,000, or approximately 45 percent of its revenue by the end of 1999. He diverted $127,000 more in 2000, creating a financial crisis by midyear that caused the staff to ration even food and linens.

Most of the money came from the federally funded Montana Medicaid program.

– John Craig

Sullivan National Forest

Kokanee spawn starting soon

The leaves might have fallen, but some of nature’s brightest, boldest colors can be seen later this month swimming through streams in the Colville National Forest.

This time of year, bright red kokanee can be spotted in creeks as they make their fall trek to spawning grounds. On Nov. 18, U.S. Forest Service fisheries biologist Karen Honeycutt will be at a prime viewing spot at Sullivan Lake, Wash., to give pointers and answer questions about the spawning.

Kokanee, a landlocked sockeye salmon, can be seen each fall swimming from Sullivan Lake to their gravel spawning grounds up Harvey Creek. Once the kokanee spawn, they die, becoming food for osprey, bear and other forest creatures.

For more information or a status report on the spawning season, call the Sullivan Lake Ranger District at (509) 446-7500.

– James Hagengruber