The Allegiant Experts Blog has covered many a news story about our nation’s opioid crisis. In many of our blogs, we’ve detailed how drugs such as Codeine, Fentanyl and Oxycodone have led to numerous overdoses. What we haven’t highlighted as much is the damage that the crisis has caused just by virtue of the attempts made to obtain the drugs to begin with. Today’s blog will cover such a story.
This past Monday, the District of South Dakota branch of the United States Department of Justice revealed that a Pine Ridge, South Dakota woman was indicted by a federal grand jury for no less than twenty felonies. They include the act of causing bodily harm for the purpose of getting opioids.
Frenchone One Horn is the accused.
The 40 year-old, who also goes by the name Frenchone Kills In Water, has been charged with seven counts of Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, seven counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, four counts of Maiming, one count of Health Care Fraud, and one count of Obtaining Controlled Substances by Fraud.
Although One Horn is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty, she has been accused of such actions as maiming people with rocks in order to obtain opioids from doctors. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, however, One Horn faces up to ten years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund for each of the charges against her.
One Horn is accused of assaulting five people with rocks.
According to the DoJ report, the assaults took place between September 2018 and October 2019. Her assaults were so brutal that they resulted in three of the victims suffering finger amputations. This bizarre story was also covered by Arielle Zionts for Rapid City Journal.
“Two of the victims were assaulted twice and one of the victims appears to be a minor since their name is redacted,” she reports, “One of the victims had two fingers amputated on two different dates in October 2019, the indictment says. It's unclear if the victims lost their fingers during the assaults or if a doctor had to amputate them due to the damage.”
One Horn is also charged with health care fraud.
She is accused of having committed health care fraud by giving fraudulent information about the assaults in order to obtain services and drugs such as Hydrocodone (also known Vicodin). Allegedly, she made false statements about the injuries suffered by the five individuals. One Horn is charged with obtaining controlled substances by fraud for allegedly obtaining Hydrocodone from health care providers.
“The fraud charges allegedly occurred between September 2018 and January 2020,” notes Zionts, “It's unclear if it was the Indian Health Service hospital in Pine Ridge or some other provider who treated the victims and prescribed the Hydrocodone.”
Are you an attorney who is trying a health care fraud case?
At Allegiant Experts, we coordinate and support courageous whistleblowers who shine lights on fraud, waste and abuse. We also consult with and educate attorneys that fight against wrongful billing practices that negatively impact both individuals and the larger healthcare industry. For more information about how we can help you, please don’t hesitate to call us at 407-217-5831 or email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.
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