A Harlingen couple is headed to federal prison after admitting they bilked Medicare out of millions of dollars through a scheme involving power wheelchairs that were never properly repaired for dozens of patients. Jeremiah Yzaguirre was sentenced to 110 months behind bars, while his wife, Maria Luisa Yzaguirre, received an 80-month term, with three years of supervised release to follow for each of them.
The sentences, announced in a post from the US Attorney SDTX
, cap a case that began with the couple's business, Southwest Medical Homepatient. According to
Texas Border Business
, the Yzaguirres operated the Harlingen-based company as a Medicare-enrolled provider of durable medical equipment and services. Both were also ordered to pay $9,248,976 in restitution to Medicare along with a $25,000 fine, the outlet reported.
A Scheme Built on Wheelchair Parts That Never Existed
The fraud centered on power wheelchairs, their parts, and repairs billed to Medicare for a surprisingly small pool of patients. Between 2019 and 2023, Medicare was billed approximately $14 million for equipment and services tied to just 37 beneficiaries, according to KRGV. In one particularly brazen example cited in the station's report, the couple billed Medicare roughly $736,072 for parts and repairs tied to a single beneficiary, falsely claiming they had repeatedly replaced expensive components.```
The same account notes the Yzaguirres admitted to receiving millions of dollars for parts and repairs that were never actually performed or provided. Instead of equipment and service calls, the money reportedly flowed into personal purchases — cryptocurrency, a vehicle, electronics, collectibles, and purses, per the KRGV report.
Guilty Pleas Cut a 16-Count Indictment Down to One
Jeremiah and Maria Luisa Yzaguirre had originally faced a far more sprawling case. As reported by MySA, both defendants pleaded guilty to count one of a 16-count indictment — conspiracy to commit health care fraud — with prosecutors agreeing to dismiss the remaining 15 counts as part of the deal.
Coverage of the case has included conflicting details about the couple's ages. Texas Border Business reported both Yzaguirres as 47 years old in its sentencing coverage, while KRGV's earlier reporting identified Jeremiah Yzaguirre as 46 and Maria Luisa Yzaguirre as 45.
Part of a Broader Federal Crackdown on Medicare Fraud
The Harlingen case lands amid sustained federal attention to health care fraud nationwide. A national enforcement action in June included civil charges against 13 defendants tied to $14.8 million in alleged health care fraud schemes, along with civil settlements totaling $23 million against 31 more defendants and 928 administrative cases from the Drug Enforcement Administration seeking license revocations, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Other recent cases show just how large these schemes can grow. In a separate matter, the Department of Justice announced that a telemedicine company owner was sentenced to 20 years in prison for organizing and leading a $46.2 million Medicare fraud conspiracy that ran for more than six years.
For now, the Harlingen case stands as a reminder of how durable medical equipment billing — often overlooked compared to flashier fraud schemes — can still rack up multimillion-dollar losses when oversight falls short. With sentencing now handed down, Jeremiah and Maria Luisa Yzaguirre face years in federal custody followed by supervised release, plus the restitution and fine aimed at clawing back what Medicare lost.
