Santa Fe cardiologist changes plea to guilty in fraud case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Santa Fe cardiologist accused of health care fraud and wire fraud has changed his plea to guilty. Prosecutors say 53-year-old Roy Heilbron entered his plea Thursday in a federal court in Albuquerque. They say Heilbron will be sentenced to two years in federal prison and term of supervised release to be determined by the court, which also will determine the restitution amount. A 24-count indictment filed in June 2015 alleged Heilbron executed a scheme to defraud Medicare and other health care benefit programs by submitting false and fraudulent claims between January 2010 and May 2011. Heilbron allegedly inserted false symptoms, observations and diagnoses into patients' medical charts to provide written support for the tests he ordered or performed and submitted claims to health plans for procedures that weren't done.