TOPEKA, KAN. - Two defendants received prison sentences following an $897,405 health care scheme where they used their pharmaceutical service to bill Medicare for thousands of unnecessary and illegal prescriptions.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports 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.

According to court documents, the following defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud:

• Steven Anthony Churchill, 39, of Boca Raton, Florida, was sentenced to 24 months in prison;
• Samson Kollelil Solomon, 28, of Pompano Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 24 months in prison; and
• Fawn Lickteig, 46, of Lawrence, Kansas, will be sentenced on November 10, 2026.

In March 2020, Steven Churchill bought Free State Pharmacy (FSP) in Lawrence, Kansas, but under the name of a now deceased, accused coconspirator. FSP operated as a mail-order pharmacy despite representing itself to Medicare as a retail pharmacy. FSP contracted with Fawn Lickteig's company, Pharmacy Consulting, to complete and submit its applications to Medicare and other health care related government entities.

As part of the scheme, FSP acquired information from telemedicine companies, including names and addresses of patients. FSP employees then filled and shipped medications to these people even though the doctors who wrote the prescriptions had not physically examined or conducted proper telemedicine visits with the patients. FSP received calls from patients unexpectedly receiving medical products, and some patients returned the products to FSP.

FSP prioritized the filling of prescriptions based on the amount of profit Medicare would ultimately pay the pharmacy. The majority of the medications prescribed were high-dollar dermatological products. Although FSP was based in Kansas, most of the beneficiaries were Floridians, with 948 claims for Florida residents and 381 claims for Kansas residents.

Of the 40 prescribing physicians who worked with FSP, 15 were under investigation at the time for referring medically unnecessary services. Between September 2020 and February 2021, Churchill, Solomon, and Lickteig submitted 2,699 false claims causing Medicare to make fraudulent payments to FSP totaling $897,405.

"Medicare exists to help senior citizens obtain the medical services and supplies they need," said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. "Those who pillage government programs for their own enrichment will pay a heavy price when brought to justice. The agency Inspectors General under this administration are hard at work rooting out this type of fraud, and the Department of Justice stands ready to prosecute when it is found."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara Walton and Lindsey Debenham prosecuted the case.

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