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Prosecutors say fraud a federal issue
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Local prosecutors say they have gone as far as they can legally go, and state officials say the situation is out of their hands. This comes after a man received just 90 days in jail and was ordered to pay less than $300 restitution for defrauding the government of nearly $1 million.“I prosecuted everything we had in our district,” said District Attorney General Lisa Zavogiannis of working out a plea agreement with Ivy Carter Jr., to serve 90 days of a two-year sentence and pay restitution in the amount of $289 to TennCare.Warren County Jail officials say Carter has already been released on time served is now free on supervised probation since he had served most of his 90 days before his case came before the court.Carter recently entered guilty pleas to three counts of fraudulently obtaining TennCare medical benefits in Warren County, with Zavogiannis noting all TennCare could go after him for in Warren County was the amount the state paid in monthly premiums for his Medicare/ Medicaid.The Office of Inspector General investigated the case and discovered Carter had made more than $950,000 in claims since 2006. Specifically, in Tennessee alone, the investigation determined in just an eight-month period between June 2007 and February 2008 he had received 2,455 hydrocodone or Oxycodone tablets using 114 prescriptions from 62 medical providers.“It offended me when I saw the report,” Zavogiannis said, noting that is when the prosecution began its case against Carter for crimes committed in Warren County.