Casey Mahoney, 48, of Hollywood Hills, was sentenced on March 21 to more than three years in federal prison for paying nearly $2.9 million in illegal kickbacks to secure patient referrals for his addiction treatment centers in Orange County. Mahoney was also ordered to pay a $240,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
The charges stemmed from Mahoney’s operation of two facilities—Healing Path Detox LLC in Huntington Beach and Get Real Recovery Inc. in San Juan Capistrano—between October 2018 and December 2020. Mahoney paid kickbacks to brokers who recruited patients, some of whom were given drugs to qualify for higher levels of care, the U.S. attorney’s office explained.
In some cases, patients were abandoned at motels and introduced to drug dealers. Tragically, several of these patients later overdosed and died. The U.S. attorney’s office detailed that Mahoney paid one broker $140,000 per month, even though the broker was involved in offering drugs to patients to make them eligible for treatment.
Furthermore, Mahoney directed his staff to target former patients with valuable insurance policies, referring to them as his “most wanted list.” He also attempted to conceal his illegal payments through fake contracts.
“This defendant illegally profited millions of dollars off of addicts who desperately needed help,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally. “Bribes and kickbacks compromise the integrity of substance abuse treatment facilities and undermine patient care. As the sentence imposed today demonstrates, those who engage in body brokering will go to federal prison.”
