2 Mesa residents sentenced to prison for scamming $3.3M from Arizona Medicaid agency

PHOENIX – Two Mesa residents were each sentenced to at least a year in prison for defrauding Arizona’s Medicaid agency out of over $3 million, authorities announced Friday.

Eric Riley, 39, and Britney Gooch, 38, previously pleaded guilty to health care fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

Riley was sentenced to two years in prison on Feb. 6, and Gooch was sentenced to one year on Feb. 20. They were also ordered to pay the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) $3.3 million in restitution.

Prosecutors said Riley and Gooch defrauded the AHCCCS American Indian Health Program (AIHP) between 2020 and 2022 through their behavioral health clinic in Mesa, New Horizons Behavioral Health.

They scammed the system out of $3.3 million by falsely billing AIHP for services that were never provided for patients.

“This case is about protecting American taxpayers, restoring the public’s trust and safeguarding critical health care resources for the communities that truly need them,” U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said in a press release. “Working with our FBI and AHCCCS-OIG partners, we not only secured convictions in this case, but also maximized the recovery of stolen money through the $3.3 million restitution order.”

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