A federal jury has convicted a Stark County businessman of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid of $2 million through a five-year billing scheme.

Thomas O’Lear, 57, of Lake Township, billed for X-ray-related services that his company, Portable Radiology Services, did not provide and made false statements and invoices to cover up the fraud, according to federal prosecutors.

O’Lear’s trial was heard in U.S. District Court in Cleveland by Judge Dan Polster.

More:Lake Township man’s medical fraud case still pending

More:Lake Twp. man charged with health care fraud

The panel convicted O’Lear  on Wednesday after hearing five days of testimony. He was indicted in 2019.

His sentencing is set for Aug. 2. He faces dozens of years in prison.

Who is Thomas O’Lear and what is Portable Radiology Servcies?

O’Lear was president of Portable Radiology Services (PRS), with locations on 20th Street NW in Canton, Kennemer Circle NW in Lake Township, Coblentz Avenue NW in Lake Township and Cleveland, according to federal records filed in the case.

PRS provided portable X-ray-related services to residents of nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and long-term care facilities, according to the indictment.

Between January 2013 and December 2017, O’Lear submitted false claims to be reimbursed by Medicaid, Medicare and Medicaid Managed Care Organizations for work his business did not provide, according to federal prosecutors.

Those included around 151 X-ray false claims of service to patients on dates after the patients had died, federal prosecutors said.

“Evidence also proved that O’Lear billed Medicare and Medicaid for purportedly having provided X-ray-related services to beneficiaries at nursing facilities on dates when the beneficiaries were hospitalized and not at the facilities; billed falsely claiming that X-ray services were performed on various dates, requiring separate reimbursement for transportation on each date; and billed one X-ray image as multiple images thereby requiring a greater reimbursement,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

O’Lear was later audited and tried to cover up his scheme by creating false medical records and faking signatures of a physician and others.

According to court records, O’Lear fraudulently billed Medicare, Medicaid and Medicaid MCOs approximately $3.7 million in claims, and received approximately $2 million in payments.

O’Lear was convicted of two dozen counts, including health care fraud, making false statements and aggravated theft.

Each of the health care fraud counts carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The false statements count carries a five-year maximum sentence, and the two aggravated identity theft counts carry a mandatory minimum of two years, which must be served consecutively, according to prosecutors.

O’Lear was represented by defense attorneys Timothy Ivey, Darin Thompson, and Christian Grostic in the case prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brendan O’Shea and Elliot Morrison.

Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with the defense.

Reach Cassandra cnist@gannett.com; Twitter @Cassienist