Therapist receives 46-month prison sentence for fraud

Tammie Sensenig, 46, of Denver received the initial fraud charges in 2006 and 2008 after giving false documentation to her then-employers, according to court documents.

These charges made her ineligible to provide health care for Medicaid recipients, according to prosecutors. Sensenig, however, lied about this prohibition when she sought work at a Berks County counseling and mental health services business that worked with Medicaid beneficiaries.

Sensenig consented to background checks when she took a job with the company as a behavioral specialist consultant and mobile therapist in October 2013, according to the indictment. Documents she gave the company for those checks were forged, a later investigation discovered.

Medicaid ultimately paid out $84,500 for services she provided. 

Lies Sensenig later admitted to telling as the case played out in courts factored into the nearly four-year sentence, prosecutor Bruce Brandler wrote in a memorandum. Those fabrications included one about her father dying, although he was still alive and healthy.

Sensenig’s attorney, Ann Ariano of Harrisburg, argued in a separate memorandum that her client told the lie in a panic out of hopes of spending more time with her family before being arrested.

Ariano also argued that Sensenig, although remorseful, had good intentions when she tried to take the job for which she knew she was ineligible.

Sensenig, Ariano wrote, was struggling to make ends meet for her family after being released from jail for her earlier fraud convictions and ultimately decided to try to go back into her field of study.

“Unfortunately, her poor choices with respect to reentering that field have led to her current charges,” Ariano wrote.

“Tammie knows that she has made many mistakes in the past, and she is truly remorseful for her actions. She wants nothing more than to complete her sentence and return to a life with her family. She would like to secure employment so that she can begin to pay off her restitution.”