Autism Clinic Owner Gets 36 Months for Wyoming Medicaid Fraud

Phantom Appointments and Upcoded Claims

CHEYENNE, WYOMING – The owner of The Olive Branch LLC, a behavioral health clinic for children with autism in Cheyenne and Minot, North Dakota, has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

U.S. District Judge Kelly H. Rankin sentenced Tera Marie Campbell, 47, of Maitland, Florida, to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release on June 30, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming. The day before, Rankin sentenced her daughter, Tayler Ann Krauss, 27, of McDavid, Florida, to two years of home confinement. Krauss was the clinic’s medical biller.

Judge Rankin ordered both women to repay $735,717.63 to Wyoming Medicaid. Campbell must also pay $135,890.91 to TRICARE, the military health program. Krauss is responsible for up to $71,509.44 of that amount. The total federal restitution is $800k.

Prosecutors accused Campbell of running a multi-year scheme through the clinic, including filing Medicaid claims for uncertified care, submitting claims for higher-paying services, and billing for services that never occurred. Some billed dates fell on days when the clinic was closed or when Campbell was out of the country.

The investigation found the clinic often used untrained employees, falsified certification and supervision records, and submitted claims that did not meet Medicaid requirements, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Investigators said Krauss helped with service documentation from December 2020 to October 2022.

Both women were indicted on May 21, 2025. Each faced 19 counts, with maximum penalties of 174 years for Campbell and 134 years for Krauss, according to the Minot Daily News. Campbell pleaded guilty to a state conspiracy charge in North Dakota on January 13, 2026, and both later pleaded guilty to the federal conspiracy charge on April 9, 2026.

“Medicaid fraud steals taxpayer dollars from programs that millions of Americans depend on and undermines care for vulnerable patients.” – Darin Smith, U.S. Attorney, District of Wyoming (2026)

The North Dakota Case

The state case happened first. Campbell pleaded guilty on January 13 in North Dakota’s South Central District Court. An audit found The Olive Branch submitted 73 claims for eight Medicaid recipients between February 2021 and February 2022. It billed $421,171 and collected $225,253, the Minot Daily News reported. The Minot clinic operated from 2020 to 2022.

Judicial Officer Jason Hammes gave Campbell a three-year suspended sentence, three years of supervised probation, and ordered her to repay $225,253. North Dakota investigators filed the original complaint in 2024. Their work with Wyoming investigators led to the federal multi-state case, the paper said.

A Joint State-Federal Prosecution

The Wyoming Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case along with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, according to the release. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Travis Kirchefer handled the prosecution.

“This prosecution represents a successful partnership between state and federal law enforcement agencies to combat fraud,” Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz said in the release.

The July 2 release is the first update the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has posted on its press page since August 2021, when Campbell County Health, which is unrelated to the defendants, agreed to repay $1.5 million to Wyoming Medicaid.

According to the Minot Daily News, Campbell’s North Dakota probation will start after she finishes her federal prison term and supervised release. The total restitution from both cases is nearly $1.1 million.

AT A GLANCE

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