An Abilene man and federal contractor working with the United States Probation and Pretrial Services Office (USPO) has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for making false and fraudulent claims against the United States. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton.
Jacob William Kinkade, aged 44, was charged via criminal information on June 20 and pleaded guilty to one count of false and fraudulent claims against the United States. He was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix. In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Hendrix also ordered Kinkade to pay $5,392 in restitution and a $6,000 fine.
The investigation into Kinkade's actions began in March 2023 when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received information suggesting that he was billing for individual therapy sessions, group therapy sessions, telephonic therapy sessions, and urinalysis collections that had not taken place.
During the investigation, numerous text messages between Kinkade and an individual identified as "Witness 1," who was on supervised release with USPO, were discovered. Witness 1 had received counseling services from Kinkade Family Services (KFS), a company owned and operated by Mr. Kinkade. A comparison of these text messages with supervision records revealed multiple discrepancies in the services claimed by Kinkade, which were billed to USPO.
In interviews with authorities, Kinkade admitted that for the past three years, starting in 2020, he did not follow USPO's reporting requirements and billed the office for services that were never provided. It was determined that KFS's contract with USPO accounted for 80% of all KFS revenue.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Taylor County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Tusing.
