By JIM BUTLER
State arrests this month for alleged Medicaid fraud begs the question – with a nod to the Statler Brothers, whatever happened to Michael Dole?
The Alexandria doctor was charged in a September 2024 federal indictment with alleged Medicare fraud involving more than $32 million. After official filing of charges on September 18, 2024, arraignment was held September 26, according to court notations.
Available public records in the case indicate the next filing, content unavailable, was on April 15, 2025, with nothing noted since.
That’s not to say necessarily that nothing has occurred in those 15 months.
Documents are sometimes filed under seal. And in the federal judicial system some proceedings may be excluded from public listing, display or access at direction of the court.
Sealing a record differs from off the docket proceedings.
In the former instance, the case activity is noted on the court docket but details shielded.
In the latter, there is no docket record of any appearance or activity.
The former is done relatively often in comparison to the latter.
The former is part of the record; there is no official recording of the latter.
The Dole case is assigned to Judge Dee Drell, and initially routed to Magistrate Judge H.C. Perez-Montez.
According to the available documents, the government is represented by Kelly Walters, DOJ Criminal Division Fraud/SEC, Washington and Samantha Usher, DOJ Criminal Division, New Orleans.
The available information does not note counsel for Dole.