Eight Plead Guilty to WC Fraud

Tuesday, June 19, 2018 | 0

Eight Ohio residents, including a bus driver who was working two jobs while collecting benefits, pleaded guilty or no contest in recent weeks to defrauding the state-run workers' compensation system, authorities announced.

Bryan Gentry
(Ohio DRC photo)

Samantha Coleman, of Cincinnati, was injured while working as a bus driver in 2015. While collecting disability benefits, she worked as tax preparer and a security guard, according to a statement from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

Coleman pleaded guilty May 30 and was placed in a diversion program because she has no prior record. She must repay $7,000 and complete 120 hours of community service.

Bryan Gentry, of Canal Fulton, pleaded guilty to tampering with records after the bureau's investigations unit found that he had created a phony certificate of compensation coverage to secure a tree-trimming job in Stark County. He must serve a year in prison concurrently with a sentence for assault and receiving stolen property.

Gentry also is a suspect in the 2017 killing of a man who was romantically linked to Gentry's girlfriend, the bureau said.

Others sentenced include:

• Gabriella Benkovits, of Lakewood; Marshall Winn IV of Niles; and Brooke Mobley of Dayton, all of whom pleaded guilty to working while collecting benefits. 
• Carolyn Tibbets, of Toledo, and Judith Barlock, of Parma, who pleaded guilty to operating businesses without providing workers' compensation coverage for employees.
• Jeffrey Guerin, of Willoughby Hills, who billed the workers' compensation system for physical therapy services he never provided. He paid more than $7,100 in restitution and agreed to leave the bureau's network of providers.