Bribery: Man jailed for "shakedown" on rehab centres

48 year old Goethe pleaded guilty to the bizarrely named "extortion under color of official right" and bribery. He has been sentenced to 41 months in jail.

Prosecutors say that Goethe worked for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programmes (ADP) as a Drug Medi-Cal Monitoring Supervisor who travelled to alcohol and drug treatment clinics throughout California to inspect records and documentation related to Medi-Cal billings. ADP, which receives millions of dollars in funding every year from the United States government, is responsible for administering prevention, treatment and recovery services for alcohol abuse, drug abuse and problem gambling.

Goethe was arrested on 9 July, 2009 by special agents with the FBI as he was leaving a meeting where he accepted a USD3,500 cash payment that was part of a USD10,000 bribe he had negotiated. Goethe subsequently pleaded guilty to having solicited and accepted bribes from rehabilitation facility owners in exchange for his promises of approvals and other benefits.

In a plea agreement filed in this case, Goethe admitted that he told a clinic owner that he could help the owner obtain certifications that would allow the owner to expand service offerings to include mental health treatment. Goethe admitted having promised that, in exchange for cash bribery payments, he could “guarantee” that the owner’s clinics would obtain certification to provide mental health treatment services. Goethe demanded USD92,000 in bribery payments from the owner.

In relation to another clinic, Goethe revealed to the owner that the clinic was being investigated by the California Department of Justice, but, in exchange for a cash bribe, Goethe could “help” the clinic owner by providing confidential information about the subjects and progress of the investigation, as well as steering CalDOJ away from the clinic. Goethe demanded USD10,000 in bribe payments from the owner of this facility.