A federal jury in Minnesota has convicted Sharmaine Meadows, 45, of Lake Elmo, on three counts of health care fraud. Prosecutors say Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program paid her company more than $3.6 million between 2020 and 2025 for services that were mostly never provided. The Justice Department announced the Oct. 7 verdict the next day, in a press release that says the program was shut down entirely because of fraud.

What the program was supposed to do

Housing Stabilization Services, known as HSS, was a Medicaid benefit meant to connect vulnerable adults with long-term housing. It was established in 2020. Prosecutors said its estimated annual operating cost was originally $2.6 million, and by 2025 spending had passed $100 million, KSTP reported. The Minnesota Department of Human Services ended HSS benefits last fall.

How the billing worked, prosecutors say

Meadows ran a company called Cradle of Love. Prosecutors say she told employees they were “required” to bill the maximum number of hours for each client whether or not the services were provided. The Justice Department says the company billed for hours worked by employees in other states and other countries, and that some claims showed “impossible workdays,” with staff working more than 20 hours a day.

“The defendant chose to defraud millions from a program meant to help vulnerable Minnesotans,” U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen told KSTP. He added that his office is committed to prosecuting people who steal from taxpayers.

The people affected go beyond the defendant. Medicaid recipients lost a benefit when the program closed, and taxpayers carried the cost of the claims that were paid. Anyone who has used a Medicaid service and seen something billed that never happened is in a position to report it.

Meadows has not been sentenced, and the Justice Department has not announced a sentencing date.

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What the trial heard

HSS allowed up to 150 hours of each kind of service, transitional housing help and help keeping a home, according to FOX 9, which was citing the Justice Department, and prosecutors say Meadows told her staff to bill up to that cap.

At trial, prosecutors introduced meeting agendas showing Meadows directing staff to maximize hours, FOX 9 reported. One offer letter went to a worker in the Philippines at $6 an hour with no health insurance or paid leave. People who were enrolled in the program testified that they got essentially no services and were told repeatedly that their hours had run out.

What happens next

A conviction is not a sentence. The jury found Meadows guilty on all three counts, and each of the three counts carries a maximum of 10 years in prison, FOX 9 reports. Neither the Justice Department nor the news reports on the verdict give a date for sentencing, and a judge will decide the penalty after that.

The reports on the verdict do not say how much money, if any, the government will try to recover from the $3.6 million.

Why the program closed

A benefit estimated at a few million dollars a year was costing more than $100 million by 2025, and one company’s billing reached workers in other countries. The Justice Department’s release says fraud forced HSS to shut down entirely, so the people it was meant to serve lost the benefit along with the money.

Reporting suspected Medicaid fraud

Minnesota residents can report suspected fraud, waste or abuse in state programs to the Department of Human Services through its report fraud page. The department says it wants to hear about potential fraud and will review concerns quickly, and people reporting do not have to give their contact information, though leaving it lets investigators follow up.

Tips about Medicaid fraud anywhere in the country go to the federal inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, through its hotline. The hotline takes tips by phone at 1-800-HHS-TIPS or online. It asks for names and contact details for the person or business, a narrative of what happened and when, and the names of anyone who can back it up, along with emails, billing records or photos if they exist.

Before reporting, it helps to write down what the service was supposed to be, who was said to provide it, on what dates, and what actually happened. A Medicaid recipient can also look at the statements or notices that list services billed in their name. Billing for visits or help that never took place is the kind of detail investigators look for.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.