The former executive director of a Coeur d'Alene nonprofit that provides developmental disability services to Idaho Medicaid participants was recently sentenced for public assistance provider fraud.

Tracy Hofius, 49, of Kootenai County, was sentenced Jan. 21 to three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $154,119 in restitution to the Idaho Medicaid program, along with court costs and a $1,000 fine, according to a Thursday press release from Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador.

"When the Legislature gives my office authority to investigate fraud, we get results," Labrador said. "This defendant stole $154,000 by billing for services never provided to children with disabilities. We recovered every dollar and will continue pursuing anyone who defrauds Idaho's Medicaid program."

Hofius was the executive director of North Star Child Development Center when Medicaid fraud investigators determined she executed a scheme in 2022 and 2023 to wrongfully obtain Medicaid funds by fraudulently adjusting and submitting incorrect information to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare for reimbursement from the Medicaid program.

Investigators found that many of the services Medicaid paid for were not actually provided by Hofius or any other North Star employees. She pleaded guilty Nov. 18, the release said.

Judge Barry McHugh also ordered Hofius to perform 45 days of labor for the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Community Labor Program and 120 hours of community service. Her Medicaid credentials were also suspended, the release said.

North Star Child Development Center declined to comment.

Public assistance provider fraud is a felony currently punishable by up to 15 years in prison, though at the time of Hofius’ fraudulent conduct, the penalty was five years in prison, the release said.