Jennifer Bowman

Battle Creek Enquirer

MASON — Former Summit Pointe CEO Erv Brinker will spend at least 32 months in prison for stealing a half-million dollars from the mental health agency.

Criminal sentencing guidelines called for up to 17 months.

Brinker, 69, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of Medicaid fraud and embezzlement by a public official. Under an agreement with the Michigan Attorney General's office, Brinker will pay $510,000 in restitution and another $510,000 in civil penalties, totaling $1.02 million.

He also will waive his interests in Summit Pointe's defined-benefits pension plan and work with the AG's office on any related investigations.

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Last summer, he was charged with the three felonies after the AG found he had paid $510,000 of public funds to a Key West, Fla., psychic under fraudulent contracts. The payments were traced back to Tommy Eli and his wife, Julie Davis, who owned a palm reader shop on a popular tourist street. Eli had claimed to be a consultant for Brinker, offering advice on a CEO succession plan and Affordable Care Act changes.

Summit Pointe's attorneys never found any health care credentials for Eli.

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The charges were preceded by Brinker's termination nearly a year ago. A months-long internal investigation that cost the mental health agency more than $1 million in attorney fees found he had conflicts of interest with vendors and had created the pension plan without the board's approval.

Brinker had been Summit Pointe CEO for nearly 25 years.

Jennifer Bowman is a reporter for the Battle Creek Enquirer.

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