HARRISBURG, PA — A Chester County couple has pleaded guilty to charges of felony neglect of a care-dependent person and Medicaid fraud following the mistreatment of a 74-year-old patient, announced Attorney General Dave Sunday.
Bennie Pettway, 62, the owner of Connect a Care Network, and her former boyfriend Dante Moore, 49, admitted to neglecting the elderly patient, who developed severe medical conditions, including sepsis, dehydration, and pressure ulcers due to the lack of proper care.
“The deliberate actions of these caretakers caused this patient to suffer unnecessarily before he passed away,” said Attorney General Sunday. “This case epitomizes how harmful Medicaid Fraud can be to Pennsylvanians who need care and taxpayers who help fund the program.”
Pettway also pleaded guilty to felony Medicaid fraud involving $29,700 in payments for services that were not provided. She has already served 8½ months in prison and will spend the first year of her parole under house arrest, followed by probation, totaling a five-year court supervision period. Moore served two months in prison and will remain under court supervision for the next four years.
Both individuals are prohibited from providing care to dependent persons and are permanently excluded from participating in Medicaid and Medicare programs.
The case stems from a 2019 investigation by the Office of Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Section, which revealed that while the patient was supposed to be receiving care, he was instead left unattended and suffered from a host of critical medical issues, including severe dehydration and hypoglycemia.
The patient passed away in 2020 from unrelated medical conditions after being dropped off at a hospital by Moore, who falsely identified himself as the man’s nephew and failed to provide critical information to medical staff.
Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Mark Levenberg of the Medicaid Fraud Control Section is prosecuting the case.
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