26 Oct Harlingen couple get years in federal prison over $14M Medicare scheme

A married couple from Harlingen will spend years in federal prison after running a power wheelchair business that caused Medicare to be billed roughly $14 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Jeremiah Yzaguirre, 47, got 110 months, or about nine years and two months. Maria Luisa Yzaguirre, also 47, got 80 months, or six years and eight months. U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. also ordered three years of supervised release for each, $9,248,976 in restitution to Medicare and a $25,000 fine. Both remain in custody until the Federal Bureau of Prisons decides where to send them.

The couple ran Southwest Medical Homepatient, a Harlingen business enrolled in Medicare as a durable medical equipment supplier. From 2019 to 2023, prosecutors said, it billed the program for chairs, parts and repairs tied to just 37 beneficiaries, with hundreds of parts and repairs charged against a single person’s wheelchair in some cases. On one beneficiary alone, the claims came to about $736,072, based on false reports that expensive parts had been replaced again and again.

The Yzaguirres pleaded guilty April 22, 2025, admitting they collected millions for work they didn’t do and parts they never supplied.

Investigators said the proceeds paid for purses, electronics, collectibles, a vehicle and cryptocurrency. The indictment identified the vehicle as a 2017 Acura NSX valued at over $117,000 and listed among the collectibles a Johnny 5 robot prop, two Legend of Zelda games, Lego sets and anime figurines.

The FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, the Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Texas Department of Insurance investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Swartz and Ana Cano prosecuted the case.