A nurse who claimed to provide health care for Carl DeBrodie pleaded guilty Monday to health care fraud.
Melissa Denise DeLap, 49, of Columbia, who was contracted to provide services to four Medicaid beneficiaries - including DeBrodie, of Fulton, who was found dead with his body encased in concrete in April 2017 - waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, according to a news release from the Office of the U.S. Attorney of the Western District of Missouri.
DeBrodie allegedly died around September 2016 while under the care of Second Chance Homes.
DeLap's duties included performing face-to-face evaluations of the beneficiaries, reviewing their physicians' orders, monitoring their medications and reviewing their records - including weight, vitals, blood sugar and others.
From September 2016 through March 2017, DeLap completed and signed DeBrodie's Community RN Monthly Health Summary for every month in that period, falsely stating she had performed a face-to-face assessment of him, and provided other services she was required to do.
During the period, she also did not provide the services for the other three beneficiaries.
DeBrodie was reported missing April 17, 2017. His body was found a week later.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, DeLap must pay $106,795 in restitution to Medicaid. She also must surrender her nursing license within six months.
DeLap faces a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley noted the case was the result of a joint federal-state investigation, including the FBI, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department's Office of Inspector General, and the Missouri attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
That unit's director, Shannon Kempf, was named a special assistant U.S. Attorney to help with prosecution of the case.