TARA INDICTED FOR MEDICAID KICKBACK SCHEME

(Press Release by the U.S. Attorney's Office)
(BROWNSVILLE, Texas) – Texas House of Representative and dentist, Tara R. Rios Ybarra DDS, of South Padre Island, Texas, along with Diana Woo Paparelli DDS, 57, and Colbert J. Glenn DDS, 49, of McAllen, Texas, have been indicted for allegedly illegally refering Medicaid beneficiaries to Gary Morgan Schwarz DDS in exchange for remuneration, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced today.
The 22-count indictment returned under seal on June 15, 2010, was partially unsealed yesterday following the arrest of Gary Morgan Schwarz DDS, MSD, along with two of his office employees and two other area dentists. Rios Ybarra, 38, who has her own private dental practice in Brownsville and also represents District 43 in the Texas House of Representatives, surrendered herself to U.S. Marshals this morning at the U.S. Courthouse in Brownsville.
(Ed.'s Note: Tara Rios-Ybarra was defeated in the Democratic primary election in March by first-time candidate J.M. Lozano.
Many observers did not give the Kingsville restaurateur much of a chance against Rios-Ybarra. To start with, Lozano's turf was sparsely populated Kleberg County while his opponent lived in burgeoning South Texas, including South Padre Island.
Others wondered whether the conservative South Texas folk were willing to overlook the tawdry tales of two-timing adultery shadowing the comely dentist from Brownsville. Many pointed to the hefty campaign treasure that Rios-Ybarra had accumulated, including respectable sums from the tort-reform zealots who believed that medical professionals could do no wrong and that the few cases that actually got through the judicial system to a jury were the result of personal injury vampires.)
Rios-Ybarra's alleged co-conspirators Paparelli and Glenn surrendered themselves to federal authorities in McAllen just before noon today. As a result of the surrender of these three defendants, the indictment has now been ordered unsealed as to all defendants.
Rios Ybarra appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio in Brownsville and ordered released on a $100,000 unsecured bond. Paparelli and Glenn are expected to appeared before a U.S. Magistrate in McAllen at 3:00 p.m. today.
Rios Ybarra is charged in counts 17 through 19 of a 22-count indictment with allegedly illegally referring Medicaid beneficiaries to Schwarz in exchange for 15% of the total payment made by Medicaid to Schwarz for all referred beneficiaries. Paparelli and Glenn are similarly charged in counts 11 through 13 of the same indictment.
All three defendants face a maximum punishment of up to five years in prison and a fine not to exceed $25,000 for each offense upon conviction.
The investigation leading to the charges in this case was conducted by the FBI and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn Ferko is prosecuting the case.