This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 28-year-old Midvale woman apologized last week in federal court for stealing her sister's identity to receive dental care.
Leslie Suzanne Zimmerman also told U.S. District Judge Dee Benson she regrets being a part of dealings that led her sister and three others to be part of a 50-count federal grand jury indictment handed down in 2007 alleging they used fraud to keep their business afloat and pay for health care.
Zimmerman was charged with health care fraud, fraud with identification documents, mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud for her role in the scheme. She pleaded to lesser charges and admitted to committing health care fraud in 2008.
"When I did this a long time ago, I was in a lot of pain," Zimmerman told Benson in court on April 26, adding she didn't have health insurance at the time. "I know it was wrong; I've been sorry for it," she said.
Benson ordered Zimmerman placed on supervised release. Her attorney, Robin Kent Ljungberg, has stated in court documents that Zimmerman helped prosecute her co-defendants in the case.
Zimmerman's sister, Michaele Muree Meier, operated a Herriman-based day care called Small Wonders Development Center before she, Zimmerman and three others — Brandy Lee Essary of Herriman, Tanya Lee Robertson of Midvale, an employee at Small Wonders, and Jason Trevor Scharf, also a former employee at the day care center and Robertson's boyfriend — were charged with fraud and identity theft.
Essary was a "business associate" of both Meier and Zimmerman, according to court documents.
The group is accused of participating in schemes to get loans for the day care center and obtaining health care services by impersonation. The state revoked Small Wonders' license in March 2006 after a police investigation.
Meier is awaiting trial. Essary's case is also pending. Robertson and Scharf have been sentenced.
Meier allegedly took another woman's identity to secure financing to purchase equipment for Small Wonders. She is also charged with filing an insurance claim on her homeowner's policy for goods she claimed were stolen.
Scharf, a cousin of Zimmerman and Meier, stole another man's identity to get wrist surgery covered by health insurance.
Zimmerman spent time in jail and a halfway house before sentencing due to substance abuse, Ljungberg said. Benson encouraged the woman, a single mother, to leave her life of crime behind.
"You can get this chapter behind you," Benson said. "If you can stop punishing yourself ... you can move on."