TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Brevard County woman has been arrested on charges she exploited a disabled adult under her care and billed false claims to the Florida Medicaid program. Sherica Byrd, of Cocoa, was arrested by law enforcement investigators from the Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with assistance from the Cocoa Police Department.

Investigators with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s Patient Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (PANE) team began investigating Byrd, 29, after receiving information from the Florida Department of Children and Families, Adult Protective Services. The investigation revealed that Byrd, a supported living coach employed at the time by #1 Choice Home Help-N-Care Agency, provided home and community-based services to a disabled adult and used this position of trust to steal money from the disabled victim. Byrd stole over $1,800 in cash, made unauthorized withdrawals from the victim’s banking account, and racked up personal charges on the victim’s debit card. She also submitted false paperwork to her employer which was used to bill Medicaid for services she failed to provide.

Byrd will be charged with one count of Medicaid fraud, one count of exploitation of a disabled adult, and one count of grand theft, all of which are third-degree felonies. Each felony carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The case is being prosecuted by the State Attorney for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit.