United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced that during the recent government shutdown, the United States Attorney’s Office continued to pursue cases related to fraud, waste, and abuse in local communities.
In Wenatchee, Washington, Brandon Wilkerson was sentenced on September 24, 2025, to thirty months in prison for aggravated identity theft and making false statements on a passport application. According to court documents, Wilkerson attempted to obtain a passport under his own name but was denied due to an outstanding warrant. He then used his brother’s identity to successfully apply for a passport and traveled to Brazil using it. While there, he married a Brazilian national under his brother’s name and later applied for legal status for her using the same fraudulent identity. Wilkerson was indicted in March 2024 and taken into custody after violating pre-trial release conditions.
A federal jury in Yakima found Dr. David Antonio Becerril of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho guilty on September 29, 2025, of sixteen felony counts including conspiracy and health care fraud. Evidence presented at trial showed that between February 2018 and September 2019, Dr. Becerril participated in a scheme involving telemarketing Medicare fraud by signing orders for unnecessary genetic tests and medical equipment for patients he had never met or communicated with. Some prescriptions were written for deceased individuals or patients lacking the limbs needed for braces prescribed. The fraudulent activity resulted in more than $3.2 million billed to Medicare.
Health First Urgent Care clinics in Richland and Pasco agreed to pay over $2.8 million to resolve allegations of overbilling Medicare and Medicaid for diagnostic tests. The settlement followed claims that the clinic improperly billed separately for each test within panel testing procedures instead of billing as a single panel test as required. Additional allegations included billing for more expensive tests not medically necessary for some patients.
Raymond and Jennifer Hilderbrand of Spokane Valley were sentenced on October 8, 2025, following convictions related to COVID-19 relief loan fraud. Raymond Hilderbrand received a sentence of thirty months in federal prison while Jennifer Hilderbrand was sentenced to time served; both will serve three years of supervised release and must pay $363,000 in restitution.
On October 1, 2025, Reynaldo Garza of Othello was convicted by a federal jury on five counts of odometer tampering after an investigation revealed he purchased high-mileage vehicles at low prices before installing replacement odometers showing significantly lower mileage. Garza then sold these vehicles at higher prices based on the falsified mileage figures.
These cases highlight ongoing efforts by the United States Attorney’s Office to address fraud-related crimes even during periods when other government operations are suspended.
