ABINGDON, Va. – Regan Dube, who along with her husband Michael Dube formerly owned and operated American Toxicology Labs, was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia to three years of probation, four months of home detention, and 400 hours of community service. Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar and Virginia Attorney General Mark G. Herring made the announcement today.

The Dubes, of Johnson City Tenn., previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Abingdon. Regan Dube pleaded guilty to one felony count of health care fraud in the Western District of Virginia.  Michael Dube pleaded guilty to two felony counts of health care fraud (one filed in the Western District of Virginia and one filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky). Michael Dube is scheduled to be sentenced February 11, 2021.

“Regan and Michael Dube repeatedly defrauded the health care system for their own greed,” United States Attorney Bubar said today. “I am grateful to our state and federal partners for quickly working together to investigate this case and for their continued efforts to remove fraud from the health care system.”

“Individuals who take advantage of the health care system to line their own pockets should be held accountable and this sentencing sends a message that this will not be tolerated in Virginia,” said Attorney General Herring. “I want to thank my Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for all of their hard work on this and I also want to thank our local, state, and federal partners for their continued collaboration on important cases like this one.”

According to court documents, in March 2011, Michael Dube pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Tennessee to one count of intentionally omitting information from reports as required under the Controlled Substances Act. As a result of his conviction, the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] informed Dube in a letter dated June 29, 2012, that he was excluded from participating in any federal health care program.

Nonetheless, in May 2013, Michael and Regan Dube established American Toxicology Labs [ATL] in Johnson City, Tennessee, with Regan Dube serving as the company’s registered agent, and using the couple’s home address as the principal office and mailing address. ATL then applied to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. On the applications, Regan Dube was listed as the owner of ATL, and Michael Dube’s name and participation in ATL was omitted.

ATL conducted urine screens for various entities who represented themselves to be opioid treatment facilities. Between May 1, 2014, and January 31, 2020, Medicare, Virginia Medicaid, Kentucky Medicaid and TennCare made payments to ATL that totaled approximately $8.5 million. During this time, Michael Dube made employment decisions, negotiated business arrangements with providers, and otherwise participated in the management of ATL.

In addition, Michael Dube also received kickback payments from third parties for referring individuals to those third parties for services for which payment was made (in whole or in part) by federal health care programs. These payments were deposited in Michael and Regan Dube’s personal checking account in a total amount of $441,646.

As a result of their guilty pleas, Regan and Michael Dube will pay a total of $9,015,046, plus interest, to be divided between special assessments, fines, restitution, and forfeiture. They will have to repay all of the money they received from Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Virginia State Police, and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of the case was conducted by Special Assistant United States Attorney and Assistant Attorney General Janine Myatt, and Assistant United States Attorneys Krista Frith, Randy Ramseyer, and Whit Pierce of the United States Attorneys’ Offices for the Western District of Virginia. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee provided valuable assistance.