Two local nurses were charged in a larger state Medicaid fraud sweep, a representative for Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said in a release Wednesday.
In total, 14 people were charged statewide last month in unconnected cases.
Sherri Shelby, 56, of Valparaiso, was charged on June 20 in Porter Superior Court with Level 3 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury. She faces 3 to 16 years if convicted.
Court documents allege Shelby fed Kevin Klusmeier, 51, a gas station red slushie and honey bun, knowing he was on an all-puree diet on a July 18, 2023, ride to Opportunity Enterprises.
He choked to death, dying the next day at St. Catherine’s Hospital in East Chicago.
Shelby, then, was a nurse and administrator at Harbor Health & Rehab, 5025 McCook Ave., in East Chicago. She was told “several times” about his diet, records allege. She told the driver to stop by a gas station for food to calm Klusmeier after he started forcefully rocking his wheelchair.
The documents note that Klusmeier was developmentally disabled. He was going to OE to see if it was a better environment after he grabbed various foods to eat at the nursing home.
Shelby quit in August 2023. She posted a $6,000 cash bond on June 28. Her next court date is July 10, before Porter Superior Magistrate Ana Osan.
In the other case, Katheryn Luna, 65, of Crown Point, was charged on June 21 in Lake Superior Court with failure to make, keep or furnish records, furnishing false or fraudulent information, and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit.
All three counts are Level 6 felonies.
Court records allege she was swallowing pills meant for residents during rounds and didn’t log it. She worked at Majestic Care of St. Anthony, 203 W Franciscan Dr., in Crown Point. She was fired in September 2023, shortly after a resident complained.
When confronted, Luna, a 30-year nurse, told an investigator it “may be time for her to retire” and “get out of nursing,” records state.
Information on her bond and next court date were not immediately available.
The Indiana Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit conducted each investigation, the release states.
mcolias@post-trib.com