Western Kentucky pharmacist sentenced in $2M health care fraud case

PADUCAH, Ky. (KFVS) – A western Kentucky pharmacist has been sentenced to prison for his role in a $2 million health care fraud scheme.

Michael Shawn Boaz, 47, of Clinton, Kentucky, pleaded guilty on November 3, 2025, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and fraudulent prescriptions.

According to court documents, Boaz and co-conspirator Christopher Clayton Augustus, 42, fraudulently billed health care benefit programs for customers at two pharmacies in Kentucky.

Between 2017 and 2021, they caused more than $2 million in losses by submitting claims for fraudulent and unauthorized prescriptions.

Authorities said Boaz added boutique vitamins to customers’ prescription orders, claiming they were free, but billed health care providers between $1,000 and $6,000 for each bottle.

He also submitted claims for fraudulent prescriptions for the antihistamine Carbinoxamine Maleate. Boaz purchased the drug from a wholesaler for $605 per prescription and billed providers between $2,000 and $16,000.

Boaz was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and 13 counts of fraudulent prescriptions. He was also ordered to pay $1,806,212.90 in restitution.

Augustus pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, fraudulent prescriptions, and aggravated identity theft, and is awaiting sentencing.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control, and the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy.

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