Telemedicine owner sentenced to seven years for selling brace orders for 3,000 Medicare patients
Reinaldo Wilson, 57, formerly of Richmond Hill, Georgia, owned and operated two telemedicine companies in Bayonne, New Jersey between 2017 and 2019. He and others paid kickbacks to medical providers to sign orders for orthotic braces that Medicare beneficiaries did not need, then sold the signed orders to purported marketing companies, which often resold them to brace companies that billed Medicare. More than $56 million in false claims were submitted and Medicare paid over $27.9 million. Wilson pleaded guilty in March 2021 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud and was sentenced in February 2026 to seven years in prison and $27.9 million in restitution.
- Year
- 2026
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $27.9 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Medicare brace and medical equipment fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-19
The facts, as recorded
- Wilson owned and operated two telemedicine companies in Bayonne, New Jersey. The release does not name them.
- From 2017 to 2019 Wilson and others paid kickbacks to medical providers to sign orders for orthotic braces for Medicare beneficiaries who did not need them.
- Wilson and others sold the signed orders to purported marketing companies, which often resold them to brace companies. The brace companies submitted claims to Medicare for the unnecessary braces.
- Co-conspirators at the marketing companies pressured beneficiaries to accept as many braces as possible.
- Providers working for Wilson's companies signed orders for four or more orthotics each for over 3,000 beneficiaries, and more than 40 beneficiaries received orders for 10 or more orthotics.
- Over $56 million in false and fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare, and Medicare paid over $27.9 million.
- Wilson later created a third telemedicine company by convincing a church member it was an investment opportunity, taking $20,000 from her and having her open the company and its bank accounts in her name before he took control of them.
- Wilson pleaded guilty in March 2021 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud.
- He was sentenced to 7 years in prison and ordered to pay $27.9 million in restitution, in a Justice Department announcement dated February 26, 2026.
Why this case matters
This is the telemedicine link in the chain, the part that makes a brace look prescribed. Wilson’s companies are described as supplying signed orders, and the volume is the telling figure: providers working for him signed orders for four or more orthotics each for over 3,000 beneficiaries.
An order sold twice
The release describes the orders as passing along a chain. Wilson and others sold them to purported marketing companies, which often resold them to brace companies, which billed Medicare.
The caveat
Wilson pleaded guilty in March 2021 and has been sentenced, so the conduct above is taken from the Justice Department’s account of a case that ended in a conviction on his own plea. The release does not name the two telemedicine companies or the church member whose name he used, and this page does not either. It reports the February 26, 2026 announcement and the amounts the court ordered, and nothing beyond them.
Sources
- Telemedicine Company Owner Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for $56M Medicare Fraud Scheme. US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. Accessed 2026-10-19. Supports: Every fact above: Wilson's two Bayonne telemedicine companies, the 2017 to 2019 scheme period, the kickbacks, the sale and resale of signed orders, the pressure to accept braces, the 3,000 beneficiaries and 40 with 10 or more orders, the $56 million billed and $27.9 million paid, the third company in a church member's name, the March 2021 plea and the 7-year sentence and restitution.