The two top executives of a Matteson foundation that provided mental health counseling for children have been sentenced to federal prison for defrauding the state’s Medicaid program of $2.5 million over several years.
Summer Matheson, 46, and Terrence Ewing, 62, husband and wife and both of Chicago, were sentenced Sept. 12 by U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey after pleading guilty to fraud charges in August 2023.
Matheson received a term of 6 years and Ewing 4½ years.
An employee of the foundation, Richard Grundy, 39, of Chicago, was sentenced by Blakey in February to 3 years and 1 month in prison.
Matheson was secretary and chief operating officer of Layne Foundation Inc., and her husband, Ewing, was president and chief executive officer.
The three, from 2011 until 2018, fraudulently billed the state Medicaid program, saying they were providing more mental health counseling than they actually did, according to prosecutors.
They also used the foundation to get Medicaid money for nonreimbursable activities such as staff training and clinical supervision, according to the government.
Patient records were also falsified and Laynie Foundation employees were told to assist in the fraud, with those following the commands from their bosses getting promotions and other perks, according to a court filing.
In one court filing in early April, Matheson and Ewing said they have two sons, ages 11 and 17, and asked that they be sentenced to staggered terms, so that one parent could continue to care for them. Prosecutors said they were not opposed to that, but it was not clear if Blakey’s sentenced provided for that.
Their attorney said the “family is indigent and lacks the resources to implement sufficient safeguards for their sons” if they were to be separated from their parents.
In asking that Matheson be sentenced to a term of 4¼ years, prosecutors said in early February that the couple used the Medicaid money they’d obtained through the fraud to buy an Audi and Porsche, spend thousands of dollars on game tickets and merchandise for the Bears and Bulls, and spent more than $40,000 on travel.
