North Ridgeville Doctor Sentenced to Over Five Years in $5.9 Million Medicare Fraud Case
Cleveland, Ohio, January 14, 2026: A North Ridgeville doctor has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary cancer tests and orthopedic braces for patients, collectively worth $14.6 million.
U.S. District Judge David Ruiz sentenced Dr. Timothy Sutton on Monday, January 12, 2026, to five years and four months in prison, followed by three years of post-prison supervision, and ordered him to pay $5.9 million in restitution to Medicare. Sutton approved thousands of fraudulent claims while working with telemedicine companies between January 2018 and October 2020.
Doctor Sentenced for Medicare Fraud in Telemedicine Scheme
Judge Ruiz said Sutton’s actions caused harm to an essential government healthcare function, diverting public funds away from patients who genuinely needed treatment.
Federal prosecutors said Sutton ordered approximately $14.6 million worth of cancer-related genetic tests and medical equipment, making him the top prescriber of medical braces in Ohio during the approximately two-year period covered by the case.
Thousands of Unnecessary Cancer Tests and Medical Braces Ordered
According to the court order, the cancer genetic tests were billed to Medicare despite the program only covering such testing for patients already diagnosed with cancer. Sutton also routinely approved braces for patients who did not medically require them, most often for knees, wrists, and backs.
Telemedicine Companies and One-Click Prescriptions
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Collyer said Sutton worked part-time for Real Time Physicians, LLC, and 24 Hour Virtual MD, approving 5,519 Medicare claims for 3,417 patients from January 26, 2018, to October 21, 2020. Prosecutors said Sutton sometimes issued as many as 25 prescriptions in just 15 minutes.
Court records show Sutton never examined or spoke with the patients whose tests and braces he approved. Orders were often authorized with the click of a button, without any documented medical evaluation.
Collyer said Sutton was paid approximately $142,000 by the two telemedicine companies and later requested an additional $30,000 after learning he was under federal investigation. Prosecutors argued that Sutton sold his medical license for roughly $31 per claim.
Doctor’s Statement: “A Vehicle for Victimization”
Addressing the court, Sutton said he failed to research telemedicine laws before joining the companies and believed his actions were legal at the time.
“I became a puppet for evil people,” Sutton said. “I allowed patients to become victims of the company and worse, I became a vehicle for their victimization.”
Sutton’s medical license expired in January, and he is scheduled to appear before the Ohio Medical Board at a future hearing.
Prior Misconduct and Career History Raised in Court
Prosecutors outlined prior incidents in Sutton’s career, including his firing from the University of Michigan Health System in 2013 after overdosing on stolen hospital drugs inside a hospital bathroom. The incident later contributed to a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation that resulted in the UM Health System paying a $4.3 million settlement.
Afterward, Sutton worked at Firelands Regional Medical Center in Sandusky, where he was fired in October 2020 for improperly accessing medical supply cabinets, removing syringes and medications, and discarding medical waste in a public dumpster, according to court filings.
Defense attorney Justin Weatherly said Sutton struggled with prescription drug addiction and described a difficult family background. In court filings, the defense stated that Sutton’s father, a podiatrist, pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud in 1999 and suffered from alcoholism.
Prosecutors countered that Sutton had significant professional opportunities but chose to engage in fraudulent conduct.
“He lived a pretty privileged life,” Collyer said. “He could have chosen to do things the right way.”
(Rh/VK)
