Couple pleads guilty in medical fraud case
Wednesday, June 4, 2008 8:37 AM PDT
By The Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articleSEATTLE — A Mount Vernon couple who used unlicensed devices, including one called a "vibe machine," to treat patients with serious illnesses has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in federal court in Seattle.
Seventy-nine-year-old Donald Brandt and his wife, 65-year-old Sharon Brandt, pleaded guilty to a single charge involving transportation of the unproven "vibe" machine through interstate commerce. They originally were charged last December with three felony fraud counts in connection with a so-called "clinic" they operated in their home.
Court documents say Donald Brandt posed as a medical doctor and used the "vibe" machine and other devices to treat diseases with various energy waves the machines supposedly produced. His wife ran the operation.
An investigation by the state Department of Health and the federal Food and Drug Administration showed that the Brandts collected more than $800,000 in treatment fees since 1995.
The pleas were entered last week. The Brandts each face up to a year in prison when they are sentenced Aug. 22 before U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle.
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