Medicall Physicians Group: Rick Brown Gets 87 Months, Biller Mary Talaga 45 Months for Billing Medicare for Dead Patients

Case from 2013–2018 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: Oct. 29, 2013; later developments are from court records and other sources cited below). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Three people tied to Medicall Physicians Group Ltd., a Schaumburg practice whose doctors visited patients at home, were indicted in October 2013 on charges of billing Medicare for services that were never provided [1]. At trial, prosecutors said, the false bills included services to patients who were already dead and visits credited to medical professionals who, going by the billing records, worked more than 24 hours a day [2].

Outcome: In May 2015 a federal jury convicted administrator Rick E. Brown and biller Mary C. Talaga on all counts. Brown was sentenced to 87 months in prison and Talaga to 45 months. The Seventh Circuit affirmed both judgments on Jan. 19, 2018 [3]. Medical director Dr. Roger A. Lucero pleaded guilty to conspiracy in April 2015 [4]. We did not find his sentence in public sources.

How the scheme worked

According to the Justice Department's trial and sentencing announcements [2] [5]:

1. Who ran it: Brown was president of Home Care America Inc., which controlled Medicall's daily operations. Talaga was the primary biller from 2007 to 2011.
2. "Care plan oversight" billing: Medicall routinely billed Medicare for overseeing home health patients' care plans, a service its doctors rarely provided.
3. Impossible claims: Bills were submitted for services to patients who had died, for work by medical professionals who had already left Medicall, and for clinicians logging more than 24 hours a day.
4. Covering tracks: The evidence showed that Brown forged physicians' signatures on medical documents, and that Talaga told physicians to create documentation after she had already billed for undocumented services. The indictment alleged Lucero created backdated records [1].

Medicall submitted about $12 million in claims to Medicare, and about $4.5 million of that was shown at trial to be fraudulent [2].

The people charged

• Rick E. Brown, 58 at trial, Rockford — convicted May 15, 2015, of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, six counts of health care fraud and three counts of false statements. Sentenced Sept. 4, 2015, by U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman to 87 months, with the judgment entered Sept. 9, 2015 [4]. Affirmed, 880 F.3d 399 (7th Cir. 2018) [3].
• Mary C. Talaga, 54 at trial, Elmwood Park — convicted on the same counts. Sentenced Sept. 18, 2015, to 45 months and about $1 million in restitution [5]. Affirmed in the same 2018 opinion [3].
• Dr. Roger A. Lucero, 64 at the time, Elmhurst — Medicall's medical director. Pleaded guilty on April 10, 2015, to one count of conspiracy under a plea agreement [4]. Sentence terms not found in public sources as of Oct. 16, 2026.

Red flags for patients and families

• Charges on a Medicare Summary Notice for doctor visits or "care plan oversight" you don't recognize.
• Billing in a deceased relative's name after the date of death.
• Home visits that are logged but never happened.

What to do

1. Review your Medicare statements at medicare.gov or on paper.
2. Report suspected fraud to the HHS Office of Inspector General at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477) or oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud, or call 1-800-MEDICARE.
3. Get free help from your state's Senior Medicare Patrol at smpresource.org.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Rick E. Brown	N.D. Ill. (Judge Feinerman), 13 CR 854; 7th Cir.	Convicted at trial May 2015; sentenced to 87 months (Sept. 2015); affirmed Jan. 19, 2018	[2], [3], [4]
Mary C. Talaga	N.D. Ill., 13 CR 854; 7th Cir.	Convicted at trial May 2015; sentenced Sept. 18, 2015, to 45 months and about $1M restitution; affirmed Jan. 19, 2018	[3], [5]
Dr. Roger A. Lucero	N.D. Ill., 13 CR 854	Pleaded guilty April 10, 2015, to conspiracy; sentence terms not found in public sources as of Oct. 16, 2026	[4], [5]

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Operators And Employee Of Schaumburg Home Visiting Physician Group Among Three Indicted In $12 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme," Oct. 29, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/operators-and-employee-schaumburg-home-visiting-physician-group-among-three-indicted-12
2. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "Administrator and Biller of Illinois Physician Group Convicted in $4.5 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme," May 18, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/administrator-and-biller-illinois-physician-group-convicted-45-million-medicare-fraud-scheme
3. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States v. Rick Brown, 880 F.3d 399, Jan. 19, 2018. https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2018/01/19/united_states_v._rick_brown.pdf
4. CourtListener (RECAP), docket for United States v. Brown, No. 1:13-cr-00854 (N.D. Ill.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4261572/united-states-v-brown/
5. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "Medical Biller Sentenced to 45 Months in Prison for Role in $4 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme," Sept. 18, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/medical-biller-sentenced-45-months-prison-role-4-million-health-care-fraud-scheme

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