A Douglas County woman convicted of Medicaid fraud must repay more than $11,000 to the Kansas Medicaid Program, a judge ordered this week.

Marquita D. Hutcherson, 44, was sentenced Tuesday in Douglas County District Court.

Judge Kay Huff ordered her to repay $11,717 to the Kansas Medicaid Program and spend three years on probation, with an underlying jail sentence of a year and a half, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in a news release Thursday.

Convictions such as this one may also result in a period during which the defendant is prohibited from being paid wages through a government health care program, Schmidt said.

Hutcherson was charged in February with more than a dozen counts in the case, according to Douglas County District Court documents.

Marquita D. Hutcherson

She pleaded guilty in July to three counts: one count of making a false claim to the Medicaid program, one count of theft and one count of unlawful acts concerning computers, Schmidt said.

An investigation revealed that Hutcherson billed Medicaid for services provided as a personal care attendant for a beneficiary while also being employed by other businesses, Schmidt said. He said Hutcherson also billed for services while the beneficiary was a hospital inpatient. The crimes occurred between 2013 and 2015.

Hutcherson, of Baldwin City, worked for Topeka Independent Living Resource Center (TILRC), the University of Kansas and SquadBuilders at the time she was charged, according to court documents. SquadBuilders is a Kansas City-area staffing firm specializing in travel nurses and health care workers, according to the firm’s website.

The Kansas Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division investigated the case against Hutcherson, Schmidt said. Assistant Attorney General Ed Brancart of Schmidt’s office prosecuted.