A Webster woman who fraudulently billed Medicaid for rides through her transportation company was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and ordered to pay $477,658 in restitution to MassHealth on Thursday.

Cynthia Keegan, 51, pled guilty to seven counts of larceny of over $250 and seven counts of Medicaid false claims last week. She was accused of claiming that her non-emergency wheelchair ambulance service, Cross Roads Trolley, billed MassHealth for thousands of rides that never actually happened, obtaining almost $500,000. Forty-seven of the names Keegan claimed her company gave rides to belonged to people who were deceased at the time, and therefore ineligible for MassHealth benefits.


Keegan will have to serve 18 months of her sentence. The rest will be suspended. In addition to paying restitution, her company was fined $245,000.

While MassHealth rejected the vast majority of Keegan’s claims for the deceased, it did pay her nearly $7,000 for 152 rides.

“Taking advantage of MassHealth takes away the necessary funds needed to operate this program efficiently and effectively,’’ State Attorney General Martha Coakley said. “We are pleased that the Court recognizes the serious nature of this crime and the importance in recovering taxpayer dollars for the Commonwealth.’’