Thirteen-Year Fugitive Dr. Juan Rios Sentenced

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on January 4, 2013, Juan Rios, 65, of Peru, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay fines and restitution totaling over $320,000 for his conviction on health care fraud, mail fraud, and failure to appear. Rios was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his period of incarceration.

Rios was first indicted in December 1999 for health care fraud and mail fraud. A superseding indictment was returned in August 2000, adding a charge of failure to appear after Rios fled to Peru, forfeiting $350,000 in cash that had been posted as bond.

During his change-of-plea hearing on September 18, 2012, Rios admitted fleeing the United States after he was indicted. Rios further admitted that as a Southern Illinois Physician, in the mid- to late-1990s, he had defrauded several insurance companies of over $400,000. Rios, who had offices in Collinsville and Bethalto, Illinois, also admitted that he had submitted false bills for medical treatment and services that were not provided to his patients while at the same time fraudulently receiving over $250,000 in personal disability payments.

The investigation was conducted by the Southern Illinois Health Care Fraud Task Force, with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the National Insurance Crime Bureau; the U.S. Department of Health Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and the Illinois State Police being the primary investigative agencies. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ranley R. Killian and Michael J. Quinley.