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The ews Journal Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905 75^ No. 13 Vol.ll4 Raeford & Hoke County n.c. Wednesday, May 29,2019 Four indicted for Medicaid fraud A Grand Jury indicted four people from Hoke County earlier this month for alleged Medicaid fraud, among other charges. The United States District Court in Columbia, South Caro lina indicted Tony Lee Covington, Priscilla Anderson Covington, Vanessa Covington McPhaul and Mary Covington Moses in con nection with the case, according to court documents. The felony charges include attempting and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, embezzle ment of public money, property or records, money laundering - inter state commerce and making false statements relating to health care matters. The four defendants are listed as executives of Preferred Care Inc., a behavioral health provider offering services in North and South Carolina; and Saving Grace Outreach, a behavioral health provider offering services in South Carolina. The two healthcare services provided counseling to clients and billed Medicaid for the charges, according to court docu ments. The indictment alleged that the four defendants systematically overbilled Medicaid for services provided by the two behavioral health agencies. The defendants “knowingly and willfully did em bezzle, steal, and convert to their own use, and the use of others, money in excess of $1,000 be longing to the United States,” the documents stated. The charges stem from Medic aid bills filed between Oct. 2014 and Feb. 2018. The defendants allegedly “criminally derived property” of at least $4,393,583.78 in funds and monetary instru ments. The four defendants are also accused of using a portion of the illegally obtained funds to invest in business ventures in North (See INDICTED, page 5) Dogs kill again in west By Catharin Shepard Staff writer The morning after disabled vet eran Robin Berry attended the first meeting of a committee formed to revamp the county’s animal control ordinance, her son woke to find two loose dogs had torn apart nine of her goats. Berry’s livestock losses are the latest in a series of ongoing problems for farms in the Reservation Road area of Hoke County. In April, three loose dogs attacked a herd of (See DOGS KILL, page 10) Shooting death investigated A man was shot and killed in Hoke County earlier this month, and authorities are still investigating the circumstances of his death. Christopher Michael Martin, 48, of Raeford was shot and killed May 3. The Hoke County Sheriff’s Office (See SHOOTING, page 3) Memorial Day celebration Clockwise from left: Larry Long enjoys some shade, a member of the All Veteran Parachute Team jumps in; vendors ply their wares at the Rockfish Memorial Day celebration Saturday.The event, held at Brownie’s on Lindsay Road, is the I Ith for the community. (Catharin Shepard, Ed Clemente photos) 25 years ago Leandro case changed public education By Catharin Shepard Staff writer “It was an effort to level the playing field,” Hoke County Board of Education member Hank Richards recalls. It was 25 years ago this month when attorneys filed the ground breaking lawsuit alleging that North Carolina wasn’t living up to its obligation to provide for public education, particularly for children in poor eounties. Nearly a genera tion later, that one court case has brought millions of dollars in state funding to poor school districts across North Carolina and helped cement the importance of pre-K programs for the state’s children. Over time the lawsuit came to be known as simply “the Leandro case,” named for Hoke County residents Kathy Leandro and her son who were among the original plaintiffs in the case. “Kathy Leandro says she’s tired of Hoke County’s public school students not getting what they deserve,” a News-Journal reporter wrote in May 1994. The newspaper interviewed Leandro and fellow Hoke parent Steve Sunkel, two of the plaintiffs who joined forces with five school districts to sue the state over its edueation funding praetiees. Leandro said at the time she was tired of seeing the lack of resourc es for local children. “The parents are tired of pro viding everything the state’s not providing. We have to work so hard in Hoke County for (See LEANDRO, page 5) County staff trains for disasters Shelters, radios, cots, blankets all beefed up By Catharin Shepard Staff writer If disaster strikes Hoke County in the future, county staff are now better prepared for what they might face in the wake of a crisis while assisting Hoke residents. Hoke County employees took turns last week attending emergency man agement training that coached them in everything from how to operate phone banks to setting up and running a shel ter. The training sessions, held at the Sandhills Community College Hoke campus, were a part of the county’s efforts to be ready for disasters that could present a threat to residents’ safety. Hoke County Emergency Coordi nator Andrew Jacobs and Emergency Management Director Bryan Marley helped organize the training week. They’ve been busy working to prepare the county for any potential incidents, Jacobs said. The eounty has needed to open public shelters twice in the last three years: once for Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and again for Hurricane Flor ence in 2018. Ever since Hurricane Elorence, emergency management offieials have been working to improve their stock of equipment, Jacobs said. (See TRAINING, page 3) Going, going... The old Raeford Swimming Association pool is being filled in after years of declining membership and increased needs for repairs. Property owner Kel Grumpier, who lives next door, says he’s filling in the pool and will build apartments out of the facility’s changing rooms. (Ken MacDonald photo) CO SUBSCRIBE^ W The iNews
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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May 29, 2019, edition 1
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