BATON ROUGE, LA – United States Attorney Brandon J. Fremin announced that U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson sentenced Marvin Clifton, M.D., age 71, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to 18 months in federal prison following his conviction for making false statements relating to health care matters. The Court further sentenced Dr. Clifton to two years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment, and ordered him to pay a $50,000 fine and a $100 special assessment.

According to admissions made as part of Dr. Clifton’s guilty plea, Dr. Clifton was a licensed physician whose medical practice included physical therapy. His patients included individuals that received medical benefits under the Office of Workers’ Compensation Program (“Workers’ Comp Program”). The Workers’ Comp Program was a federal health care benefit program, providing wage replacement benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation, and other benefits to certain workers or their dependents who experienced work-related injuries or occupational disease. Qualified medical treatment provided under the Workers’ Comp Program was paid for by the U.S. Treasury.

“The sentence obtained today has been the culmination of a thorough investigation completed by our agents revealing abuse by medical professionals of Federal benefits programs for personal gain,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Cave, of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Southern Area Field Office. “The USPS-OIG, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to vigorously investigate these types of cases in order to deter and stop these fraud schemes.”

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter J. Smyczek.