MIAMI – Two South Florida men were sentenced to multiple years in prison for their roles in a $34.8 million health care fraud conspiracy billing Medicare for thousands of orthotic braces sent to Medicare beneficiaries who did not need them.
“These fraudsters billed Medicare $34.8 million for braces that patients didn’t need and didn’t request — and now they’re paying the price,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “They paid kickbacks for fake doctors’ orders, shuffled billing among several companies to dodge payment suspensions, and pocketed millions that belonged to American taxpayers. Their prison sentences make clear: if you steal from Medicare, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be held accountable.”
“Medicare is not a blank check for fraudsters,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “These defendants built a $34.8 million scheme around medically unnecessary braces, fraudulent doctors’ orders, and illegal kickbacks, all to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers. Today’s sentences reinforce a simple message: if you steal from our health care programs, we will find you, prosecute you, and hold you accountable.”
According to court documents, Kenneth Charles Kessler, III, 43, of Miami, and Michael Andrew Gomez, 43, of Miramar, owned and operated seven durable medical equipment (DME) supply companies based in Florida. Through these DME companies, they submitted millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary orthotic braces.
Kessler and Gomez also paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to obtain fraudulent signed doctors’ orders. They used these orders to ship orthotic braces to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide, including to beneficiaries who neither requested nor needed the braces, and then claimed payment for those braces from Medicare. Kessler and Gomez used their multiple DME companies to evade Medicare payment suspensions by shifting their fraudulent billing between their DME companies.
Kessler profited more than $1.4 million, and Gomez profited more than $2.3 million from the fraudulent scheme.
Kessler was sentenced to 33 months of imprisonment, and Gomez was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment.
In May 2026, Kessler and Gomez each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division; U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office; and Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), made the announcement.
FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Aisha Schafer Hylton and Owen Dunn of the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Health Care Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daren Grove for the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 25-cr-60188.
###
Contact
Public Affairs Unit
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Florida
–
GEMM BROADCASTING CORPORATION
Broadcasting & Press Production Company for the 🌎
This is GBC News – Delivering Reliable, Original, and Trusted Journalism.
© GEMM BROADCASTING CORPORATION the parent company of GBC NEWS. All Rights Reserved – WORDPRESS
