Elizabeth Guetersloh, 67, of Hillsboro, has been given a 15-month prison sentence and ordered to repay $423,513 for participating in a fraud scheme with Power-Med Inc. and former Anheuser-Busch employees. A jury found Guetersloh guilty of mail fraud, wire fraud, and theft of government funds, stating she fraudulently filed for disability payments. The scheme involved Power-Med Inc. and swindled over $3.5 million in disability payments from the Social Security Administration and private disability benefit insurers.

Guetersloh and other defendants, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office, stole thousands of dollars in fees to learn how to fake medical ailments and pretend to be unable to complete basic tasks. Power-Med co-owners, Thomas G. Hobbs and Vivian Carbone-Hobbs, were both sentenced to four years in prison earlier this year and ordered to repay considerable sums. Hobbs admitted to conspiracy, health care and Social Security fraud, false statements, and government funds theft in January.

The chiropractors coached their patients on pretending to be disabled, and patients paid them for annual appointments to maintain qualification for disability payments. Hobbs also admitted to aiding patients in fraudulently obtaining disability benefit payments, charging fees between $2,000 and $8,600 to prepare disability forms. He also submitted counterfeit medical reports to enhance patients’ disability claims.

In total, charges against various individuals involved in the scheme ranged from probation periods to prison time and included substantial repayment orders. Gail S. Ennis, Social Security Administration inspector general, commended the work of investigators and attorneys in bringing the complex case to a successful conclusion.