Hudson Valley Doctor Returns To Prison In New York

A Hudson Valley doctor was sentenced for defrauding New York State for a second time.

On Wednesday, Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that a former doctor from Dutchess County was sentenced for healthcare fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

Former Hudson Valley, New York Physician Sentenced For Second Health Care Fraud Conviction

Spyros Panos was sentenced to 111 months in prison. The 52-year-old from Hopewell Junction, New York pleaded guilty to the charges in October 2020.

Sentencing was delayed because he lied about testing positive for COVID-19 and then suffered from COVID-related pneumonia, officials say.

“Spyros Panos, a former surgeon who surrendered his license to practice medicine after a prior conviction for healthcare fraud, abused our healthcare system for his own personal profit again, and he is now facing a return to prison. The sentence he received appropriately reflects the seriousness of his crime and of recidivism in the eyes of the law," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.

Dutchess County Man Previously Convicted in 2013

In October 2013, the Hopewell Junction orthopedic surgeon pleaded guilty to a healthcare fraud charge. In April 2014, he was sentenced to 54 months in prison. In September 2016, he was released to a halfway house and then, about a month later, to home confinement.

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He stopped engaging in the scheme while he served his prison sentence. After he was released, he resumed executing the scheme, officials say.

The former orthopedic surgeon, who was previously convicted of healthcare fraud, confessed he assumed the identity of a licensed orthopedic surgeon and obtained over $876,000 in payments for reviewing patient files in connection with healthcare appeals and Workers' Compensation cases.

Panos impersonated a licensed orthopedic surgeon practicing in Westchester County.

Officials say that he submitted the Westchester County doctor's credentials to peer review companies and conducted peer reviews using the doctor’s name and credentials.