Counselor sentenced in Brodheadsville Medicaid fraud

Michael Johnston

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Michael Johnston, 56, former owner/operator of Vision Counseling Services in Brodheadsville, was sentenced Thursday to two years and four months to five years in state prison after pleading guilty in a Medicaid insurance billing fraud case.

Johnston pleaded guilty to billing his patients' insurance provider more than $100,000 for mental health services he never provided to the patients. He used that money to cover trips to Jamaica and other personal expenses, the state Attorney General's Office learned.

Standing handcuffed in a county jail inmate uniform, a remorseful Johnston was given a chance to address the court on his own behalf moments before sentencing. He said addiction, depression and deaths in the family contributed to a stressful situation leading to poor decision-making.

Johnston requested leniency. He said having to live with the embarrassment he has brought upon his family is bad enough and that he wants to serve a county jail sentence, as opposed to a state prison sentence, so that he can be closer to his young daughter.

"I'm not a bad person," he said.

It was greed and a desire to live a lifestyle he couldn't afford that landed Johnston where he is now, said Monroe County Court Judge Stephen Higgins, deeming a state prison sentence more appropriate.

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