Kalispell man receives three-year sentence for Medicaid fraud scheme

HELENA – A Kalispell man received three-year sentence and ordered to pay restitution on Monday following his guilty plea for committing Medicaid fraud, Attorney General Knudsen announced today.

The Montana Department of Justice’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) received a referral in 2021 alleging Clayton Earl Dryden, 32, submitted fraudulent timesheets for providing personal care services to a Medicaid recipient. Dryden had been hired under the Montana Independent Living Project (MILP), now known as Ability Montana, to serve as the personal care attendant for an individual who resided in Gallatin County. MILP received a report that Dryden had moved to Kalispell years earlier and had not been providing the services claimed on his timesheet. Additionally, the investigation showed dozens of instances when Dryden was working for a construction company in Whitefish on the same days he claimed to have provided services to the individual.

Dryden was charged with false claim to public agency on October 18, 2022. He pleaded guilty to the charge in Gallatin County District Court in July and was sentenced Monday to a three-year custodial sentence to the Montana Department of Corrections and ordered to pay $6,000 restitution to Montana Medicaid.

Assistant Attorney General Bree Gee prosecuted the case. The case was investigated by MFCU Agent John Kaleczyc and Auditor Angela Herbst.

Stevens Amendment Compliance Statement
The Montana Department of Justice’s Montana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is an agency under the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation. MFCU receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $828,159.21 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2023. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $276,053.07 for FY 2023, is funding by the State of Montana.