MACON, Ga. (WGXA) — A Montezuma therapist, two Macon County Board of Elections (BOE) officials and two other Middle Georgia women are facing federal charges for their connection to a years-long mental health care fraud scheme.
According to an indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Middle District of Georgia, Dawn James-Ellis, 54, Tarshea Fudge-Riley, 53, and Lamonica Lakes, 47, all from Montezuma, as well asa s 54-year-old Angela Childs of Vienna and 43-year-old Adrian Harris of Warner Robins were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud on March 10, 2026.
The grand jury indictment alleges that, from January 2019 to December 2022, James-Ellis, a licensed therapist operating her practice, Therapy On the Go in Montezuma, submitted several fraudulent insurance claims for mental health therapy sessions she knew never occurred to receive millions of dollars in payments from insurance companies.
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Federal prosecutors believe Fudge-Riley, who is the Chief Macon County BOE Supervisor, and Lakes, an elections clerk at the Macon County BOE, as well as Childs, were paid by James Ellis to knowingly create fake therapy session notes that were submitted to health insurance providers for “pre-payment review.”
James-Ellis is also believed to have paid Harris and others to knowingly provide their and their family’s health care insurance and plan information for the fraudulent claims for sessions that never occurred.
The Montezuma therapist is also facing an additional charge of identity fraud for using the information of clients without their knowledge or permission to falsely document sessions she did not provide, per the indictment.
The means of the scheme
The federal indictment, which was unsealed on Tuesday, states that fraudulent claims were reviewed in 2022 after some health care insurance providers discovered inconsistencies in the attempts to defraud.
For example, some of James-Ellis’ therapy sessions were backdated or future-dated before or after she had actually seen the listed client. The therapist also claimed she had seen clients on weekends, holidays, or when she was away on vacation.
In some instances, James-Ellis would provide family or group sessions and then submit fraudulent claims for each person attending the session as if she treated each person individually. There were also alleged instances when James-Ellis submitted claims “for over 24 hours of therapy in a single day.”
The indictment also states that the fraudulent notes, which are used to verify the therapy sessions for insurance providers in conjunction with the claims, were also found to have “anomalies and inconsistencies.”
The session notes, allegedly written by Fudge-Riley, Lakes and Childs, who were paid per the note by James-Ellis, were created months or years after the alleged sessions or submitted minutes apart from each other.
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As session notes usually detail a patient’s mood, appearance and the topic of discussion between the client and their therapist, investigators found it unusual when some notes were “generic” and “repetitious,” or listed a patient’s information but left any details about the session blank.
Federal prosecutors also believed James-Ellis and her co-defendants “intentionally omitted” the electronic signatures on the notes because they carry a timestamp that cannot be altered.
The indictment states, ” the presence of an electronic signature makes it impossible to backdate notes and fabricate sessions… their omission of them was an intentional act in furtherance of their scheme to defraud.”
As a result of the fraudulent scheme, federal prosecutors believe James-Ellis received millions of dollars for services she knowingly never provided, per the indictment.
The latest on the case
On Tuesday afternoon, each defendant made their first appearance in the U.S. Magistrate Court in Macon and was released on a $15,000 unsecured bond, according to a spokesperson for the Middle District of Georgia.
The spokesperson added that the investigation into the health care fraud scheme remains ongoing, but the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General (OIG), Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (OIG), Employee Benefits Security Administration and the FBI.
In a press release on Wednesday, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called for the “immediate suspension” of Macon County BOE Supervisor Fudge-Riley, amid the allegations in the indictment.
“Georgians deserve absolute integrity from their election directors and staff,” said Secretary Raffensperger in a statement. “These are serious charges that jeopardize public trust. Fudge-Riley must step aside while the legal process plays out. It’s troubling she hasn’t done that voluntarily.”
He also criticized the Macon County Board of Commissioners for “failing to take immediate action” following her arrest, but emphasized his office will step in to assist Macon County as midterm elections are underway.
“Our office stands ready to assist Macon County in ensuring continuity of operations and upholding the integrity of its elections,” Raffensperger added. “But accountability cannot wait. The voters of Macon County deserve better than uncertain leadership.”
Stick with WGXA as we learn more and follow this developing story.