Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Anthony Santamaria was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz II to 10 years in prison for his participation in an approximately $2 billion international health care fraud conspiracy. Santamaria is the third member of a Moscow-based criminal organization sentenced this month in connection with the scheme. Co-defendants Hershel Tsikman and Hafizullah Ebady were sentenced earlier this month to 120 months’ and 97 months’ imprisonment, respectively. In addition to the terms of imprisonment, Judge Kuntz ordered Santamaria to forfeit $3.2 million and Ebady to forfeit more than $1.8 million. Additionally, all three defendants were ordered to pay restitution to their victims in an amount to be determined at a later date. A fourth defendant, Dela Saidazim, was sentenced to time served in December 2022. Three additional co-defendants, David Bishoff, Brycen Millett and Joshua Alegria, are awaiting sentencing. An eighth co-defendant and the leader of the criminal organization, Brian Sutton, a U.S. citizen who is believed to be residing abroad, remains at large.
