Jackson, Miss. – A Vicksburg man was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate to 32 years in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and health care fraud; money laundering; aggravated identity theft; mail fraud; and contempt of court. He was also ordered to pay $1,917,231.26 in restitution to the victims in the case.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Laron Evans conspired with co-defendant Travious Quinshad Jackson and others to execute a health care fraud scheme involving Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) using interstate wire communications and the U.S. postal system. The scheme used interstate wire communication via the Internet to send Personal Identification Information (PII) of 57 actual people, pretending that they were employees of an imaginary company, to a third-party administrator company located in Maryland.

The third-party administrator company used the stolen PII to create individualized HSA accounts, and corresponding debit cards, for all 57 employee names, and sent debit cards for each employee name in the mail to Vicksburg addresses. The third-party administrator advanced and credited funds to each HSA account created for the supposed employees, which money could then be spent through the debit card at designated retail stores.

Evans, assisted by Jackson and others, spent the debit cards in various stores throughout April and May 2018, buying gift cards, debit cards, and other consumer goods to deplete the HSA accounts. The third-party administrator in the meantime had learned that there was no money in the bank account that Evans had identified for his fake company when the company sought reimbursement for the HSA accounts.

On July 10, 2018, using proceeds gained from the health care fraud scheme, Evans bought a 2018 Chevrolet Suburban SUV in Forrest County, Mississippi, for $44,335 in cash plus a trade-in vehicle.

On February 13, 2019, Evans appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Anderson for his initial appearance and arraignment in this case. Judge Anderson entered an Order permitting Evans to be released on bond pending trial, subject to conditions forbidding travel without prior permission of the Court before leaving the Southern District of Mississippi.

In April 2019, Evans travelled outside the State of Mississippi without permission of the Court.  While outside the State of Mississippi and on his return to Vicksburg, Evans continued to execute health care fraud schemes using the Internet and the U.S. Mail. Evans falsely represented himself as leader and manager of an Orlando, Florida, business, seeking to establish health care benefits including HSA accounts for its purported employees. Evans submitted over the Internet to a third-party administrator company located in Minnesota, bank account information for drawing reimbursement, plus employee information for creation of HSA debit cards. The Minnesota company sent some of the debit cards, during the period April 16-25, 2019, to Evans at his Vicksburg home address through the U.S. Mail. Evans had requested that the Minnesota administrator fund those HSA accounts up to $91,000.

Evans pled guilty on August 1, 2019, to conspiring to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and health care fraud; money laundering; aggravated identity theft; mail fraud; and contempt of court.

Co-defendant Travious Quinshad Jackson pled guilty on June 18, 2019, to aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to two years in prison. He was also ordered to pay $302,099.34 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the announcement.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, Vicksburg Police Department, and Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly T. Purdie prosecuted the case.