Federal jury finds laboratory owner guilty of six criminal counts after prosecutors establish that millions were billed for unauthorized respiratory tests involving nursing home residents.
BALTIMORE, MD – October 20, 2026 (STL.News) A federal jury in Maryland has convicted a laboratory owner of orchestrating an $18.7 million Medicare fraud scheme that exploited nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, billing the federal health insurance program for expensive respiratory tests that physicians never ordered and, in numerous cases, were never performed.
Patrick Britton-Harr, 42, of Annapolis, Maryland, was found guilty Monday, October 19, of five counts of health care fraud and one count of transactional money laundering following a federal trial in the District of Maryland.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Britton-Harr used his company, Provista Health, to submit approximately $18.7 million in fraudulent Medicare claims over six months. Medicare paid more than $7.2 million on those claims.
The scheme targeted nursing home residents nationwide at a time when long-term care facilities struggled to secure COVID-19 testing services and protect vulnerable populations from the rapidly spreading coronavirus.
Federal prosecutors established that Britton-Harr took advantage of that demand by offering legitimate COVID-19 testing arrangements while submitting additional claims for costly respiratory pathogen panel tests that were medically unnecessary, unauthorized, or never conducted.
Evidence presented at trial also demonstrated that some fraudulent claims involved nursing home residents who had already died.
The conviction marks Britton-Harr’s second federal fraud conviction in 2026. In June, another federal jury convicted him of six wire fraud counts involving a separate $15 million private aviation investment scheme.
How the $18.7 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme Operated
The Medicare fraud operation began in 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nursing homes faced extraordinary pressure to identify coronavirus infections among residents and employees. Testing was essential to infection-control efforts, particularly because elderly residents were among those most vulnerable to serious complications.
Federal prosecutors said Britton-Harr offered COVID-19 testing services to nursing homes nationwide.
After collecting specimens from residents, other laboratories performed the requested COVID-19 tests.
However, Britton-Harr’s company submitted additional Medicare claims for respiratory pathogen panel testing, commonly known as RPP testing, supposedly performed at a laboratory he owned in Arizona.
These panels screen for multiple respiratory pathogens and can be considerably more extensive than testing for a single virus.
The panels involved in this case screened for more than 30 respiratory pathogens.
Such testing can have legitimate medical applications when appropriately ordered and clinically indicated. However, prosecutors demonstrated that the tests billed through Provista Health were not ordered by the treating physicians.
The distinction is important because Medicare reimbursement depends on compliance with applicable coverage, medical necessity, and documentation requirements.
Britton-Harr’s company represented that physicians had ordered the extensive respiratory testing when, according to the evidence, they had not.
Several physicians testified that they had never ordered an RPP test for any patient in their medical careers.
That testimony helped establish the difference between the medical services actually requested and the additional testing claims submitted to Medicare.
Medicare Paid More Than $7.2 Million
The operation’s financial scale was substantial.
According to the Justice Department, Provista Health submitted $18.7 million in fraudulent claims for respiratory pathogen panel testing within approximately six months.
Medicare ultimately paid more than $7.2 million.
The distinction between the amount billed and the amount paid is significant.
The $18.7 million figure represents the fraudulent billing total prosecutors established, while the $7.2 million represents the money Medicare actually disbursed.
The remaining billed amount should not be described as money successfully collected by Britton-Harr.
Nevertheless, the payments demonstrated how an extensive fraudulent billing operation could extract millions of dollars from a federal health insurance program in a relatively short period.
The case also illustrates the financial risks created when medical claims are submitted for services that lack proper physician authorization or supporting documentation.
Medicare processes an enormous volume of claims involving hospitals, physicians, laboratories, nursing homes, and other health care providers.
Federal investigators must therefore distinguish legitimate medical services from claims involving fabricated orders, unnecessary procedures, or services that were never delivered.
In this case, investigators and prosecutors established that the additional respiratory testing claims were fraudulent.
Inexperienced Employees Directed to Submit Claims
One notable element of the prosecution involved testimony and evidence about how Britton-Harr used inexperienced employees to run the billing operation.
According to the Justice Department, Britton-Harr directed workers, including a family member and high school- and college-aged interns, to submit Medicare claims for respiratory pathogen panel tests whenever COVID-19 testing occurred.
Employees were instructed to link the additional testing to the COVID-19 specimens.
This arrangement linked legitimate demand for coronavirus testing to a separate stream of fraudulent Medicare billing.
The government’s evidence established that Britton-Harr directed the billing practices.
The Justice Department did not announce criminal convictions against the interns or other inexperienced employees identified in its October 20 release.
Their involvement was described as part of the evidence establishing how Britton-Harr organized and executed the scheme.
The testimony also demonstrated how laboratory billing operations can be manipulated when employees follow instructions without independently verifying the underlying medical orders.
Laboratory Closed While Medicare Billing Continued
Federal prosecutors presented additional evidence that the fraudulent billing continued even after Britton-Harr had closed his Arizona laboratory.
According to the Justice Department, Britton-Harr prohibited employees from working at the laboratory and no longer possessed the equipment necessary to perform the respiratory pathogen panel tests.
Despite those circumstances, Medicare claims continued to be submitted for tests supposedly conducted at the facility.
The lack of operating equipment and laboratory personnel showed that certain billed services could not have been performed as represented.
Investigators also established that some claims involved nursing home residents who were already deceased.
Billing for tests that were never performed, including those attributed to deceased patients, was among the evidence supporting the jury’s verdict.
The findings underscore the importance of verifying whether a laboratory was operational, whether physicians authorized testing, and whether the services described in claims actually occurred.
Fraud Proceeds Used for Porsche and Waterfront Mansion
The prosecution also examined how Britton-Harr spent money obtained through the Medicare fraud operation.
Federal authorities say he used proceeds from the scheme to support an expensive lifestyle.
Prosecutors identified among the purchases a Porsche 911 costing $112,500.
The Justice Department also reported that Britton-Harr used fraud proceeds to make monthly mortgage payments of approximately $25,000 on a waterfront mansion in Annapolis, Maryland.
Those expenditures became part of the government’s presentation concerning the financial benefits Britton-Harr obtained from the operation.
The luxury purchases were especially notable because the fraudulent billing occurred during a public health emergency when nursing homes were attempting to protect elderly residents.
Rather than representing legitimate revenue from medically necessary laboratory services, the payments were connected to claims that prosecutors proved were fraudulent.
The jury also convicted Britton-Harr of transactional money laundering, a separate offense involving financial transactions with proceeds from unlawful activity.
Federal Prosecutors Condemn Exploitation of Nursing Homes
U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland criticized Britton-Harr’s conduct following the conviction.
Hayes said the defendant exploited vulnerable nursing home residents and inexperienced workers for personal financial benefit during a global pandemic.
She emphasized that federal authorities would continue pursuing individuals who misuse government health care programs and obtain taxpayer funds through fraudulent practices.
The Justice Department also highlighted the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, which are responsible for investigating the case.
The HHS inspector general plays a central role in investigating fraud involving Medicare and other federal health care programs.
Its investigative responsibilities include examining suspicious billing practices, false claims, kickback arrangements, and other misconduct involving federal health care spending.
The FBI also investigates complex financial crimes, including fraud involving government programs and money laundering.
Trial Attorney Chris Wenger of the Justice Department’s Fraud Division, Health Care Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Evans for the District of Maryland handled the prosecution.
Second Federal Fraud Conviction in 2026
The Medicare conviction follows an earlier federal jury verdict involving Britton-Harr’s private aviation business, AeroVanti.
On June 3, 2026, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Britton-Harr of six counts of wire fraud related to a scheme that collected about $15 million from customers who believed they were helping finance private aircraft purchases.
According to the Justice Department, Britton-Harr owned and controlled AeroVanti and affiliated businesses that marketed access to private jet flights.
The company offered a membership arrangement known as the “Top Gun” program.
Participants were encouraged to pay approximately $150,000 upfront in exchange for discounted private flight hours.
Britton-Harr represented that the money would help purchase specific aircraft and that members’ investments would be protected through arrangements involving aircraft titles held in escrow.
Customers collectively contributed approximately $15 million toward the proposed acquisition of five aircraft.
However, federal prosecutors found that Britton-Harr diverted customer funds instead of using them as promised.
The Justice Department reported that the diverted money supported purchases of yachts, jewelry, and other personal expenses.
The funds also helped pay for a residence near Tampa, Florida, with monthly rent of approximately $10,000.
Evidence in that trial further established that Britton-Harr attempted to conceal the misconduct by obtaining a $1.5 million loan to purchase an aircraft he had previously represented as already acquired using customer funds.
The two federal cases involved different victims, financial arrangements, and criminal conduct.
The AeroVanti prosecution concerned private customers who paid for aviation services and promised aircraft investments.
The Medicare prosecution involved fraudulent claims submitted to a federal health insurance program for unauthorized respiratory testing.
Both resulted in jury convictions, but the financial totals and offenses should be considered separately.
Potential Prison Sentences and Sentencing Proceedings
Britton-Harr now faces sentencing proceedings in two separate federal criminal cases.
For the Medicare fraud conviction, the Justice Department reported that each of the six counts carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
Those maximum penalties do not establish the sentence Britton-Harr will ultimately receive.
A federal judge must consider the applicable sentencing guidelines, the circumstances of the offenses, relevant financial losses and other statutory sentencing factors.
The Justice Department stated on October 20 that a sentencing hearing in the Medicare case would be scheduled later.
In the separate AeroVanti case, each of the six wire fraud counts carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison.
The Justice Department’s June announcement did not establish a sentencing date for that case.
Any eventual prison sentence, restitution order, or other financial penalty will depend on subsequent court proceedings.
The guilty verdicts establish criminal liability for the offenses of conviction, but they do not mean the court has already imposed a final sentence.
Medicare Fraud Remains a Major Federal Enforcement Priority
The case arrives amid continued federal efforts to investigate fraudulent claims involving Medicare and other health insurance programs.
According to the Justice Department, its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program operates through nine strike forces in federal districts across the country.
Since 2007, the program has charged more than 6,200 defendants whose alleged schemes collectively involved more than $45 billion billed to federal health care programs and private insurers.
Those figures reflect the Justice Department’s cumulative enforcement statistics, not the money recovered or the value of proven fraud in each case.
Federal authorities have increasingly focused on schemes involving unnecessary medical testing, fraudulent laboratory billing, and improper claims submitted through businesses participating in government health care programs.
The COVID-19 pandemic created unusual conditions for laboratory testing because demand for diagnostic services rose rapidly.
That demand also created opportunities for fraudulent operators to exploit emergency circumstances and submit claims for services unrelated to legitimate patient needs.
The Britton-Harr prosecution demonstrates how authorities can examine medical orders, laboratory operations, billing records, employee testimony and financial transactions to reconstruct a fraudulent scheme.
It also highlights the distinction between legitimate testing programs and unauthorized billing practices carried out under the appearance of providing necessary medical services.
What the Conviction Means for Medicare Oversight
Beyond the criminal penalties facing Britton-Harr, the case raises broader questions about safeguards surrounding laboratory testing and federal health insurance payments.
Medicare relies on accurate claims submitted by participating health care providers and laboratories.
When claims falsely state that a physician ordered testing, the reimbursement process’s integrity is compromised.
When claims involve services never performed, federal funds can be diverted without any corresponding medical benefit.
When claims involve deceased patients, investigators may uncover particularly strong evidence that the reported services were fraudulent.
Effective oversight requires attention to several elements of medical billing, including the existence of valid physician orders, the medical necessity of testing, the laboratory’s ability to perform the procedures, and the accuracy of patient information.
The Maryland prosecution illustrates how failures or deliberate misrepresentations involving those elements can lead to substantial financial losses.
It also demonstrates why nursing homes and other medical facilities must carefully evaluate arrangements with outside testing providers.
Although outside laboratories may provide valuable diagnostic services, the legitimacy of those arrangements depends on accurate documentation, appropriate medical authorization, and compliance with applicable billing requirements.
Federal Court Will Determine Final Punishment
With the jury’s October 19 verdict, the Medicare fraud case has moved from trial to sentencing.
The Justice Department confirmed that Britton-Harr was convicted on all six counts it announced: five involving health care fraud and one involving transactional money laundering.
The jury’s decision followed evidence concerning unauthorized respiratory testing, false Medicare claims, continued billing after a laboratory closure, and personal expenditures financed with fraud proceeds.
The government established that Provista Health submitted approximately $18.7 million in fraudulent claims and received more than $7.2 million in Medicare payments.
Combined with Britton-Harr’s separate June conviction involving AeroVanti, the verdict leaves him facing sentencing in two significant federal fraud prosecutions.
The cases involve different financial systems, but both show how false representations about the intended use of money can cause substantial losses.
For Medicare beneficiaries, taxpayers and legitimate health care providers, the latest conviction reinforces the importance of detecting and prosecuting fraudulent billing practices.
The next major development will be the scheduling of sentencing proceedings, when a federal judge will determine the punishment for the offenses established by the jury.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, October 20, 2026, “Maryland Man Convicted of $18.7M Medicare Fraud for Respiratory Testing Scheme Targeting Nursing Homes”; U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, June 4, 2026, “Maryland Man Convicted of Defrauding Private Jet Customers for $15M”; U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, May 28, 2025, initial indictment announcement.
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