They were sons and daughters who went to Kenneth Chatman’s sober homes when they were at rock bottom and finally, hopefully, ready to try to overcome their drug addictions.

And in return, Chatman fed them illegal and prescription drugs to keep them vulnerable, prostituted the women to line his pockets, took bribes and kickbacks and raided their health insurance to pay for bogus treatments.

He was sentenced Wednesday to 27 ½ years in federal prison and must register as a sex offender for being the ringleader of a massive fraud that abused people who were desperately trying to stop using drugs.

Chatman, 46, who operated drug treatment centers and sober homes in Palm Beach and Broward counties, pleaded guilty earlier this year to three federal offenses of conspiring to commit health care fraud, money laundering and sex trafficking.

During the nearly two-hour court hearing, Chatman said only one word. "No," he replied in a hoarse voice after the judge asked if he wanted to say anything.

Though health care fraud and money laundering are usually considered white-collar crimes, prosecutors said Chatman’s offenses were particularly appalling.

They called him “one of the worst” and said this was the first federal health care fraud case in the nation that involved sex trafficking.

“Mr. Chatman was not considered the biggest player in the [sober home and drug treatment] industry … but he was considered the most dangerous because of the egregious nature of the behavior and the harm he inflicted,” prosecutor A. Marie Villafana told the judge. “There really is no touchstone for this case because there is no one else like Mr. Chatman.”

For more than an hour, people who said they were victimized by Chatman in his greed to make millions of dollars, told the judge – and Chatman – what he had taken from them.

Five sets of parents spoke emotionally about how their young adult children died from drug overdoses either while they were in the care of Chatman and his associates or soon after they left his ring of so-called sober homes and treatment centers.

“I ask that the sentencing of Mr. Chatman match the crime, the loss of all of us,” Michelle Holley, of Fort Lauderdale, told the judge as she gestured toward the 40 or more people who lost family members or said they were abused and misused in Chatman’s treatment homes.

Her daughter Jaime was 19 when she overdosed on drugs, 22 days after leaving one of Chatman’s homes. Holley said her daughter was intent on kicking her drug habit but left the sober home after she saw patients were being encouraged to openly use illegal drugs and to engage in prostitution there. Her daughter died a few months later.

Holley held up a framed blue painting with a Mother’s Day message on the back, which her daughter gave her last year. The painting featured the serenity prayer, which people in recovery, and their family and friends, recite.

Two former patients also spoke in court and told the judge what they endured.

One was a 22-year-old woman who said she was forced to have sex with “close to 150” men in less than a month while staying at a sober home Chatman controlled. She said she was 19 when she was brought there by men who worked for Chatman. She used only her first name and the first letter of her last name in court. The Sun Sentinel is not identifying her because she was the victim of a sex crime.

“Upon entering the house I was punched in the face and lost consciousness. When I woke up … there were restraints on my wrists and ankles attached to a bed post,” said the woman. “They took all my belongings, including my clothes. They IV drugged me with an unknown sedative. And from that point on, men came in and paid him money to rape me.”

“I thought I was going to die there, in fact, I was convinced after several days,” she said.

Long after she escaped and reported him to law enforcement, he tracked her down on the street and forced her to recant her allegations in a document that he had notarized, court records show.

The second, Schuyler Smith, 22, of West Chester, Penn., was handcuffed and shackled in court because he is facing allegations he committed a robbery after leaving one of Chatman’s homes. He and his family said they know they’re lucky he’s still alive.

Chatman was so keen to keep billing Smith’s health insurance that he flew him back to South Florida, from Louisiana and New Jersey, on two occasions, Smith told the judge.

“Luckily for me, I made it out and I survived,” Smith said. “But he’s got blood on his hands that he can’t wash [off].”

The investigative team, which included a large coalition of federal, state and local agencies, said Chatman also had sexual relationships with some of the young women.

Chatman admitted he made millions of dollars in just three years by seeking kickbacks and bribes to place patients in treatment, fraudulently billing their insurance and then actively setting them up to fail.

Prosecutors said Chatman exploited laws that were supposed to make substance abuse treatment affordable and available to virtually everyone and turned them into a “treasure trove” for unscrupulous people like himself.

They said his fraud contributed to the rise in drug overdoses in the region and also had a devastating effect on the health insurance industry, causing some companies to withdraw from the Florida market.

Chatman’s centers, Reflections Treatment Center in Margate and Journey to Recovery LLC in Lake Worth, received between $9.5 million and $25 million in insurance payments, prosecutors said when he pleaded guilty. The final amount of restitution he owes has yet to be determined.

Prosecutors recommended Chatman serve 35 years in prison. The defense, who said Chatman knew nothing about the industry he entered just a few years ago, suggested 14 years would be more appropriate.

“Everybody’s looking for a scapegoat,” said defense attorney Saam Zanganeh. He said there is a good side to Chatman, who was involved in his church and several charities, according to family members and supporters.

People who knew him said he was very charismatic and began running a personal trainer business after moving to Florida a few years ago. Prosecutors said he quickly figured out he could make more money exploiting people with addictions.

Zanganeh emphasized that Chatman, of Boynton Beach, immediately began cooperating with investigators to help them prosecute other offenders after he was arrested in December. Chatman should also get credit for promptly pleading guilty, sparing dozens of families the pain of going through a criminal trial, the attorney said.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks ruled that 27 ½ years in federal prison was the appropriate punishment. He ordered Chatman to undergo sex offender treatment in prison and to register as a sex offender when he’s released.

“He exploited his patients,” the judge said. “He used their addictions and vulnerability for personal gain.”

Moments after Chatman, handcuffed, shackled and dressed in dark blue jail scrubs, was led from the court, the judge sentenced his wife, Laura, 44, to three years in prison for her role in the offenses. She admitted falsifying official paperwork that made it seem like she owned her husband’s businesses because, as a previously convicted felon, he was barred from operating them.

Chatman committed his crimes while he was on supervised release, the federal version of probation, for an identity theft fraud-related offense. Laura Chatman, who trained to be a nurse, is expected to testify in a related trial and was allowed to remain free until August when she must surrender to prison.

In court, she wept and visibly tried to avoid looking at her husband, shielding her eyes with a raised hand. The couple has four children, the eldest of whom is 19.

When her turn came, she sobbed and spoke directly to the families affected by the couple’s crimes.

“I can’t even imagine what these families are going through and I’m so sorry,” she said, pausing as her chest heaved. “Listening to all this is almost unbearable. I had no idea that he could do this.”

Resource: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/