Rock Hill Criminal Defense Law Blog

A man who owned a South Carolina counseling service was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of Medicaid fraud in November 2019. The 38-year-old man owned New Dominion Community Services, which operated offices in Greenville, Anderson and Richland counties. The service was an approved provider under South Carolina's Medicaid program. However, in addition to claims for legitimate services, the man reportedly submitted false claims between 2015 and 2017 for counseling services that were never provided, receiving $400,000 in unearned Medicaid reimbursements from the program.

After an investigation by the state Attorney General's office, the man was arrested and charged. The man reached an agreement with prosecutors on the Medicaid fraud charges, pleading guilty in April to obtaining property under false pretenses, a felony charge. The charge can carry up to a 10-year prison sentence, but he was sentenced to five years as part of the agreement. State officials praised the sentence, saying that the man's offenses cheated taxpayers. They also urged that it be considered a deterrent for other providers considering submitting false billing to Medicaid. The man's attorney said that his client will be paying back as much money as possible.

The Kershaw County Sheriff's Department took a man and woman into custody for allegedly murdering a man. The suspects, a married couple from Bethune, have not yet had a bail hearing while authorities detain them in the Kershaw County Detention Center. The arrests came after a prolonged investigation that began on March 8, 2017 when police located the victim's body in Bishopville.

The 34-year-old male victim was last seen at a friend's house sometime in December 2016. When he failed to return to work on Jan. 4, 2017, the Bethune Police Department officially recognized him as a missing person. An anonymous tip 10 weeks later revealed the location of his shallow grave.

According to research out of the Violence Poverty Center, South Carolina was once again named one of the highest ranked states for incidences of violence against women in 2016. During that year, 48 women were murdered by men, placing the state in the top 10 for that particular category. Nationwide, black females were disproportionately affected by this type of violence. Firearms were the most commonly used weapon to commit these murders.

Guns are also used in non-fatal incidents of violence against women. According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, "hostile gun displays against family members may be more common than gun use in self-defense, [and] hostile gun displays are often acts of domestic violence directed against women." The U.S. Department of Justice says that women are more likely to be victims of violent crimes committed by intimate partners than men.

A South Carolina man is facing attempted murder charges after he allegedly engaged in a domestic dispute with his wife and stabbed her brother when he tried to intervene. The incident took place in Spartanburg County on Sept. 30.

According to the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, the defendant and his wife were having an argument in the backyard of a home when his wife screamed. Her brother heard the scream and went outside to help her. At that point, the defendant allegedly stabbed her brother and fled the scene on foot.