Legal expert analyzes nurse practitioner indictment
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JACKSON, Tenn. — A Jackson nurse practitioner is indicted Tuesday in federal court on more than a hundred counts. John Michael Briley is accused of not only impersonating a doctor but fraudulently filing for Medicare and TennCare benefits. Court documents allege between April 2010 and June 2014, Briley wrongfully claimed for benefits 145 times, bilking the state and federal government out of more than $300,000. If convicted, experts said he could face stiff fines and a lengthy prison sentence. “One explanation is that they think he either made up a doctor’s name and signed it or he signed a doctor’s name without that doctor’s permission,” legal expert Mark Donahoe said. The indictment states Briley ordered home health care services topping more than $300,000 for patients while falsely claiming they were requested by a doctor. “There are certain procedures in Tennessee that only a doctor can prescribe or only a doctor can authorize,” Donahoe said. Nurse practitioners are not physicians under federal regulations, and Donahoe said it seems Briley was trying to get around that. “Based on what I’m seeing in the indictment, more than likely it’s a doctor here that did not authorize the procedure,” Donahoe said. According to experts, all 145 counts from 2010 through 2014 were listed in the indictment to show that prosecutors believe Briley willingly defrauded the government. “They want a jury to understand that it happened over a period of time,” Donahoe said. “It wasn’t a single incident. It wasn’t once or twice — it happened a lot.” Tuesday, Briley took to his Facebook page saying, “Friends, I ask for your prayers as I begin my the battle against those who have tried to destroy our office for over a year.” According to Donahoe, Briley has a long road ahead. “They’ll be a raft of documents in this case — boxes and boxes and boxes — if it’s typical of the other cases that I’ve been involved in,” Donahoe said. Last October, Briley voluntarily surrendered his nurse practitioner license after being accused of abusing narcotics on the job. According to Donahoe, federal sentencing guidelines show Briley could face up to 24 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
