Man sentenced to more than 14 years for fraud

TAMPA — A federal judge in Tampa sentenced David Lovelace, 45, of Land O'Lakes to 14 years and 6 months in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme.

In December a jury convicted Lovelace of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and aggravated identity theft, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office. In addition to the sentenced prison time, U.S. District Court Judge Steven Merryday ordered Lovelace to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution.

Between June 2010 and May 2014, Lovelace and co-conspirators used Cornerstone Health Specialists, Summit Health Specialists and Coastal Health Specialists to submit more than $12 million in fraudulent claims, the statement says. Medicare paid more than $2.8 million in reimbursement on those claims.

The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Strike Force has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have combined to bill the Medicare program for more than $6 billion, the statement says.