The operator of two unlicensed assisted living facilities was sentenced last week for felony theft following an investigation into nursing homes reportedly unlawfully discharging residents to unlicensed homes in the Baltimore area.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced last week that Troy Desante Brown was sentenced to a three-year suspended prison sentence, plus five years of supervised probation, for his role in operating the two unlicensed assisted living facilities in Baltimore. Brown also was ordered to refrain from operating any assisted living facilities, have no contact with former residents and pay $19,379 in restitution, of which $17,000 already has been paid.
In a separate case, Brown pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed assisted living facility, exploitation of a vulnerable adult, embezzlement and public assistance fraud. In that case, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which was suspended, plus five years of probation.
Brown’s sentencing follows the sentencing in 2019 of four other individuals following the state’s investigation into a former nursing home operator accused of “dumping” residents.
The case against Brown and some others can be traced to 2015, when the attorney general’s office began investigating a nursing home operator, Neiswanger Management Services, for potentially violating the Patients’ Bill of Rights and the Maryland False Health Claims Act. The provider, the investigators alleged, was unlawfully discharging residents to unlicensed assisted living facilities, according to the attorney general’s office.
In October 2018, the company settled with the state, agreeing to stop running nursing facilities and to pay $2.2 million to the state.
As a result of that investigation, the Organized Crime and Medicaid Fraud Control Units of the Criminal Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s office began criminal investigations into the operators of those unlicensed assisted living facilities. That investigation revealed financial exploitation of residents and evidence of abuse and neglect. Search warrants conducted in 2019 at those facilities revealed overcrowding and, in some cases, “deplorable living conditions, including bed bugs and mice.”
Along with Brown, the four other individuals charged and sentenced were:
- Dawn Daniels, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed assisted living facility and public assistance fraud. She received a suspended one-year prison sentence and three years of supervised probation and was ordered to pay $2,057 in restitution.
- Sharon P. Isaac, who pleaded guilty to operating seven unlicensed assisted living homes in Baltimore and Baltimore County, first-degree neglect of a vulnerable adult, exploitation of a vulnerable adult, felony theft and public assistance fraud. She received a five-year suspended prison sentence and five years of supervised probation and was ordered to pay $4,571 in restitution.
- Keisha L. Coates, who pleaded guilty to theft scheme and identity fraud. She received a suspended sentence of 18 months and three years of probation and was ordered to pay $2,502 in restitution. In a separate Circuit Court for Baltimore City case, Coates pleaded guilty to public assistance fraud and fraudulent statement in a public assistance application. She received an 18-month suspended sentence and three years probation.
- Barbara J. Parker, who pleaded guilty to exploitation of a vulnerable adult, felony theft and filing a false tax return in operating an unlicensed facility in Baltimore City. She received a five-year suspended sentence, three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $4,361 in restitution.
“These individuals operated predatory, unlicensed facilities, compromising the health and safety of vulnerable residents who were in their care,” Frosh said in a statement in 2019. “The conditions endured by the residents were often dirty, unsanitary and infested by vermin, and the residents’ medical needs often went unaddressed.”
