W. Chicago chiropractor gets 6 years for fraud

A West Chicago man who owned and operated a chiropractic practice in Maywood was sentenced to nearly six years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty last year to health care fraud.

Darwin Minnis, 56, has been in federal custody since his guilty plea. Federal prosecutors said Minnis was part of an organized effort involving several other defendants who defrauded the government out of roughly $1.4 million in false workers' compensation claims. The judge also ordered Minnis to pay restitution in that amount as part of his sentencing.

Prosecutors said Minnis's chiropractic practice treated mainly patients who were employees of the U.S. Postal Service and eligible for federal workers' compensation benefits. They said Minnis and others obtained workers' compensation payments by submitting false and inflated claims. The investigation revealed Minnis forged doctors' signatures that misrepresented treatment and services in the claims. Prosecutors said Minnis knew the federal government would not accept a chiropractor's opinions on medical reports.

Federal officials said the fraud began in 2000 and lasted through June 2009. Minnis, a physician who worked at the clinic and a billing employee were indicted more than a year ago. Minnis pleaded guilty in November. He was facing a maximum of 10 years in prison, authorities said. The other two have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said.

Minnis' attorney Thomas Brandstrader said his client had been struggling with “mental health and drug issues for quite some time.”

Brandstrader said Minnis is cooperating with authorities in other cases of health care fraud.

“He was a small cog in a very big picture,” the attorney said. “Dr. Minnis has hit his bottom and now he's got to start working his way back up.”