Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A defense attorney for a former Tangipahoa Parish School Board member and his wife says the couple is doing the best they can to pay $3.5 million in restitution, fines and costs involving a Medicaid fraud case, despite only paying about $22,000 so far.
State prosecutors have been seeking to revoke the probations of Eric Dangerfield, 63, and Cassandra Dangerfield, 56, both of Hammond, because they have paid so little of what is owed more than two years after they were ordered to make restitution.
Still, The Advocate (http://bit.ly/29BpKAk ) reports the Dangerfields' payments and the arguments of lawyer Lance Unglesby were enough to keep state District Judge Mike Erwin from doing so Thursday and throwing the couple in jail.
Unglesby told Erwin that the couple is making, as the judge previously demanded, a good-faith effort to pay the money they owe. He said Cassandra Dangerfield is now working and paying $100 a month toward the judgment.
"Literally she's sending every extra dollar to the state," he told the judge.
Unglesby added that the couple's home is being appraised, but he cautioned it "doesn't have the value the state hoped it had" because it's in what he called a bad neighborhood.
Assistant Attorney General Kathleen Petersen said the house has been assessed at $147,000.
After Thursday's court proceeding, Unglesby said Eric Dangerfield has tried to land a job to no avail because he is disabled and essentially "unhireable."
Prosecutors said the Dangerfields filed numerous false claims for state Medicaid funding through their personal care business, then used the proceeds to pay their salaries, buy property and luxury vehicles, pay college tuition for their adult sons and fund one of Eric Dangerfield's School Board campaigns. The couple filed false tax returns to hide the income
Eric Dangerfield was given a suspended four-year prison term and put on unsupervised probation for six months after pleading guilty to six misdemeanor theft counts and two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion.
Cassandra Dangerfield pleaded guilty to a single felony count of racketeering and two felony counts of tax evasion, and received a suspended 10-year sentence and five years' supervised probation.
The $22,000 the couple has paid includes the sale of two cars at a combined price of $11,000.
"They're making a good-faith effort. That's all you can ask," Unglesby said. "They're doing everything asked of them."
The next court date for the Dangerfields is Dec. 8.
___
Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
