Crime was a poor investment for a Boca Raton, Fla.chiropractic physician who will spend the next 4.5 years behindbars after copping to her role in a staged auto accident ring.

Yesterday a southern Florida court sentenced Jennifer Adams, 39,to a mandatory 54 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years ofsupervised release. In addition, the court ordered Adams to pay$1,920, 424.83 in restitution, sending a strong message toinsurance scammers.

Adams previously pleaded guilty to a one-count informationcharging her with conspiring with others to commit mail fraud forher role in a staged accident fraud scheme.

According to court documents, perpetrators of the fraud schemerecruited friends and family members to participate in stagedaccidents. Under Florida's no-fault law, insurers are required toprovide personal injury protection (PIP) coverage of $10,000 perperson. The recruiters referred to the individuals whom theyrecruited as the "Perro" and the "Perra." The "Perro" was theperson who "caused" the staged accident. The "Perra" was the personwho was the "victim" of the staged accident and whose car wasstruck by the "Perro's" car. Thus, if the recruiter found a Perrowith a wife and two children and a Perra with two friends, for atotal of seven participants, the maximum PIP benefit was$70,000.

Once the recruiters located willing participants, they providedcoaching on staging the actual accident, what to relay toresponding police officers, and how to report injuries. Followingeach accident, the Perro and Perra filed false claims with theirinsurance companies, alleging that they and their family memberswere injured.

Court documents also allege that accident participants were thendirected by the recruiters to chiropractic clinics that werecontrolled by co-defendants. The staged accident participantscompleted paperwork falsely asserting that they suffered injuriesduring the staged accident. The co-conspirators advised theparticipants on how to fill out the paperwork and what to say if aninsurance investigator interviewed them about their injuries ortreatment. The staged accident participants were instructed to signnumerous blank treatment forms that would later be submittedindicating that they had visited the clinic on a number of separateoccasions for treatment, although they may have visited the cliniconly once or twice. During their visits, some staged accidentparticipants received no treatment at all or may have received onlya short exam or treatment from the chiropractor or LMT but thepaperwork completed by the LMTs and chiropractors, including Dr.Adams, indicated that a full and lengthy exam and treatment wasgiven.

Adams agreed to place her name on the corporate paperwork fortwo clinics, thereby using her status as a licensed chiropracticphysician, to allow the clinics to bill insurance companiesdirectly for PIP claims without obtaining additional licensure fromthe state of Florida. Those clinics were Ovy Rehabilitation MedicalCenter Inc. (OVY) in West Palm Beach, Florida, and ChiropracticOffice of South Florida LLC (COSF) in Palm Springs, Florida.Although Adams was named as the owner of the clinic on thecorporate paperwork, the co-conspirators maintained control of thebank account and running the operations of the clinics.

Although Adams initially believed the clinics wereoperating legitimately, sometime thereafter she became aware thather license and status as a chiropractor was being used tofraudulently submit claims by U.S. mail to insurance companies.Adams realized these patients did not require medical treatment andyet, according to court documents, continued to work at bothclinics signing prescriptions for plans of treatment that she knewwere not only medically unnecessary but also would be submitted forreimbursement to numerous insurers. Authorities believe that fromthe time that Adams was informed about the fraud until theclinics were closed by law enforcement, the clinics submittedfraudulent claims that resulted in more than ten insurance companies making total payments of$1,920,424.83. Adams also received a salary for herwork as a chiropractic physician paid from the COSF and OVYchecking accounts. The bulk of the proceeds of the fraud were takenby co-conspirators.

Following Adams' sentencing, Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. attorneyfor the Southern District of Florida, commended theinvestigative efforts of the FBI, IRS-CI, and the FloridaDepartment of Insurance Fraud, while issuing a special thanks tothe National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) for its assistance withthe case.