Posted on: Saturday, April 19, 2003

Ex-coach admits to Felix decree fraud

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A former Kailua High School assistant football coach has admitted charging the state for services to special-needs students that he never provided.

Warren Johnson Jr. pleaded guilty Thursday in a hearing before Circuit Judge Michael Town to five counts of medical assistance fraud, two counts of attempted fraud and nine counts of forgery.

Johnson faces up to five years in prison on each of the 16 counts when he is sentenced July 2, but is expected to ask for a deferral of his guilty plea, which would allow him to avoid having a permanent criminal record if he stays out of trouble for a specified period of time and abides by other conditions similar to probation.

The indictment brought against Johnson in February did not specify the amount that authorities believe Johnson received as a result of the fraudulent billings, but investigators set the amount at about $4,500.

The case brought against Johnson was the second one stemming from the state's ongoing investigation of allegations of fraud related to the $1 billion the state has spent under the so-called Felix consent decree in an effort to improve services to special-education students.

Deputy Attorney General Christopher Young said the case was developed after a parent of one of the children Johnson was supposed to be assisting questioned some of charges listed on a copy of a statement she received from the state Department of Education.

The 16 criminal counts against Johnson essentially involved three Kalaheo students, Young said. One of them was on vacation with his parents in Las Vegas on the days Johnson claimed to have provided services.

In another case, the mother of one of the students took time off from work to stay home with her child during Christmas vacation and knew Johnson could not have provided any services because she was with the child every day during the Christmas break, Young said.

In the third case, Johnson submitted billings for services that he claimed took place at the school at a time when a teachers strike was taking place and school was not in session, Young said.

Johnson volunteered as an assistant coach for the Kailua High School football team through last season but is no longer involved with the program.

Young said Johnson told the judge that he was under a lot of stress when he submitted the false billings and that he was pleading guilty to the charges "so he could put the whole matter behind him and get on with his life."

In the other case related to the investigation of money spent under the Felix decree, an O'ahu grand jury last May indicted therapeutic aide Susan Puapuaga on 10 counts of medical assistance fraud for allegedly billing the state for about $1,800 worth of services that were not provided. She pleaded no contest to the charges in July.

Puapuaga was indicted on new charges Thursday for allegedly submitting an additional $18,000 in false billings to the state. She pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Hawai'i's school system has been under the federal court's oversight since the state signed the decree in 1994, agreeing to improve special-education services, as required by law.

A special state House-Senate investigative committee was organized in early 2001 amid growing concerns about how the consent decree money was being spent.