Press Releases
01/05/2024
Shelton Man Sentenced on Charge of Cruelty to Persons
(Rocky Hill, CT) – Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin today announced that the Honorable David P. Gold on January 4, 2024 sentenced Michael Mastronardi on a charge of Cruelty to Persons following an investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.
Mastronardi, age 49, of Shelton, pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine to one count of Cruelty to Persons, for intentionally depriving another of proper physical care, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53-20(a)(1), a class D felony. In addition, the defendant was ordered to pay $57,278.24 in restitution to the Department of Social Services to reimburse the Medicaid program.
An investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit determined that between August 2014 and April 2019, Mastronardi was enrolled as a provider in the Personal Care Assistance (PCA) program, a federal and state funded Medicaid program. The PCA program provides recipients with permanent, severe, chronic disabilities a PCA to physically assist them with daily activities enabling them to stay in their homes. Mastronardi had been billing for years claiming to have been providing services to a severely injured recipient, who was unable to care for themselves without physical assistance. Inspectors found numerous overlapping dates and times that Mastronardi claimed to have been providing services when he was actually working at the Greenwich Police Department. Inspectors conducted interviews and surveillance, confirming that Mastronardi was not at the recipient’s residence, as claimed, during overnight hours. By leaving the recipient unattended, Mastronardi intentionally deprived the recipient of proper physical care.
Judge Gold sentenced Mastronardi to a three-year suspended jail sentence and three years of conditional discharge. Along with the condition of restitution in the amount of $57,278.24, Mastronardi was ordered not to act as a provider in the Medicaid program, and no new arrests for which probable cause is found.
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit would like to thank the Connecticut Department of Social Services - Office of Quality Assurance for its assistance in this matter.
The Connecticut Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,988,308 for the fiscal year of October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $996,099 for the same fiscal year, is funded by the State of Connecticut.
Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at (860) 258-5986.