A Harlingen couple is going to federal prison. They took millions of dollars from Medicare. Prosecutors said so on Friday.
Jeremiah Yzaguirre, 47, got 110 months in prison. His wife, Maria Luisa Yzaguirre, 47, got 80 months. Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. set the terms.
Each must serve three years of supervised release after prison. That means they will be watched after they get out.
They were both ordered to pay Medicare $9,248,976. That is called restitution. It means paying back money that was taken. They also got a $25,000 fine.
The couple ran a Harlingen business. It was called Southwest Medical Homepatient. Medicare had signed it up to sell medical gear, like power wheelchairs. The business said it sold parts and did repairs on those chairs.
Medicare is the health plan run by the federal government. It helps older people and some people with disabilities.
From 2019 to 2023, Medicare got bills for about $14 million. The bills were for power wheelchairs, parts and repairs. All of it was for only 37 patients. Many times, the couple billed for hundreds of parts and repairs on one person's chair.
Both pleaded guilty in April 2025. Prosecutors say they admitted they got paid millions for work that was never done. They also admitted the parts were never provided.
They admitted a lie about one patient. They billed about $736,072 for that one person. They claimed they had replaced costly parts hundreds of times. That was false.
The charges in 2023 gave more detail. The indictment said that patient was stuck in bed. The patient had no access to the chair when the repairs were due. It listed 132 repair claims for one controller part. It listed 107 for a motor-gearbox and 84 for a battery.
Where did the money go? Prosecutors say the couple bought crypto and a car. They also bought gadgets, collectibles and purses.
The indictment lists more. It says the car was a 2017 Acura NSX worth more than $117,000. It says the collectibles had a Johnny 5 robot prop from the movie Short Circuit. They had two Legend of Zelda video games, Lego sets and anime figures.
Court records show both pleaded guilty to plotting health care fraud. Under the plea deal, other counts were dropped. Five were for health care fraud and helping with it. Four were for aggravated identity theft. Six were for spending money that came from the crime.
Both will stay in jail for now. Later they will move to a federal prison. It has not been named yet.
The FBI and other agencies looked into the case. Prosecutors Andrew Swartz and Ana Cano handled it.
The car price and the list of collectibles come from the indictment. The rest comes from prosecutors and court records.
