Signatures were forged on commercial drivers’ specimens never sent to lab.
A California woman has been sentenced to one year in prison for not sending urine specimens collected from commercial drivers to a lab and forging signatures from tests never conducted.
Demetri Dearth, former owner and operator of Advanced Substance Abuse Programs (ASAP) in Redding, Calif., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on July 13. In addition to the year in prison, Dearth was ordered to serve one year of probation and pay a $2,500 special assessment fee.
Death had pleaded guilty in October to mail fraud and making false statements to a government agency in connection with random and pre-employment drug-testing services administered to motor carrier drivers as required by law.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, between March 2009 and February 2010, ASAP collected urine specimens from commercial drivers but did not forward many of them to certified laboratories. Instead, Dearth created false custody and control forms stating the urine samples had been released to FedEx for transfer to a lab. In reality, the specimens never left Dearth’s lab, the Office of Inspector General said.
Dearth also falsified reports indicating that a medical review officer had reviewed the results of various urine tests when no tests had been conducted, according to the investigation. These false reports named legitimate medical review officers, provided their addresses and presented forged signatures.
Demetri Dearth, former owner and operator of Advanced Substance Abuse Programs (ASAP) in Redding, Calif., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on July 13. In addition to the year in prison, Dearth was ordered to serve one year of probation and pay a $2,500 special assessment fee.
Death had pleaded guilty in October to mail fraud and making false statements to a government agency in connection with random and pre-employment drug-testing services administered to motor carrier drivers as required by law.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, between March 2009 and February 2010, ASAP collected urine specimens from commercial drivers but did not forward many of them to certified laboratories. Instead, Dearth created false custody and control forms stating the urine samples had been released to FedEx for transfer to a lab. In reality, the specimens never left Dearth’s lab, the Office of Inspector General said.
Dearth also falsified reports indicating that a medical review officer had reviewed the results of various urine tests when no tests had been conducted, according to the investigation. These false reports named legitimate medical review officers, provided their addresses and presented forged signatures.