Steven Churchill and Samson Solomon

Sentenced. Churchill and Solomon each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud and were sentenced to 24 months in prison; a third defendant, Fawn Lickteig, is scheduled for sentencing on November 10, 2026.

Introduction

Steven Anthony Churchill, 39, of Boca Raton, Florida, and Samson Kollelil Solomon, 28, of Pompano Beach, Florida, were each sentenced to 24 months in prison for their roles in an $897,405 Medicare scheme run through a pharmacy they operated in Lawrence, Kansas . The sentences were announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas on October 16, 2026, following their guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud . The scheme’s shape was a pharmacy that billed Medicare for thousands of unnecessary and illegal prescriptions — medications shipped to people whose doctors had never properly examined them, prioritized by how much profit each prescription would pay .

Background Information

In March 2020, Churchill bought Free State Pharmacy (FSP) in Lawrence, Kansas — but under the name of a now-deceased, accused coconspirator . FSP operated as a mail-order pharmacy while representing itself to Medicare as a retail pharmacy, and it contracted with Fawn Lickteig’s company, Pharmacy Consulting, to complete and submit its applications to Medicare and other health-care-related government entities . As part of the scheme, FSP acquired patient names and addresses from telemedicine companies, then filled and shipped medications to those people even though the prescribing doctors had not physically examined or conducted proper telemedicine visits with them . Some patients called FSP surprised to be receiving medical products at all, and some sent the products back .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The scheme ran on volume and margin. FSP prioritized which prescriptions to fill based on the amount Medicare would ultimately pay the pharmacy, and the majority of the medications were high-dollar dermatological products . Although FSP was based in Kansas, most of its beneficiaries were Floridians — 948 claims for Florida residents against 381 for Kansas residents . Of the 40 prescribing physicians who worked with FSP, 15 were under investigation at the time for referring medically unnecessary services . Between September 2020 and February 2021, Churchill, Solomon, and Lickteig submitted 2,699 false claims, causing Medicare to pay FSP $897,405 .

Public Reaction and Consequences

U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser framed the case around the program being drained: “Medicare exists to help senior citizens obtain the medical services and supplies they need,” he said, warning that “Those who pillage government programs for their own enrichment will pay a heavy price when brought to justice” . The case was investigated by the FBI and the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara Walton and Lindsey Debenham . The sentencing announcement also tied itself to the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, the enforcement machinery the case is being showcased under .

Current Status

Churchill, 39, and Solomon, 28, are each serving 24-month federal sentences after their guilty pleas to the three-count conspiracy . Fawn Lickteig, 46, of Lawrence, Kansas — whose Pharmacy Consulting company submitted FSP’s Medicare applications — pleaded guilty in the same conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 10, 2026 . The release does not describe restitution or forfeiture obligations for any of the three defendants .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Churchill and Solomon exit the case with federal fraud convictions and two-year prison terms, and the pharmacy that anchored the scheme — bought under a dead man’s name — is finished as an operating concern in the record. The case’s lasting marker is its numbers: 2,699 false claims in under six months, 948 of them billed to Florida seniors from a Kansas counter, and 15 of the 40 prescribing doctors already under investigation when the claims went in. For Medicare’s anti-fraud machinery, it is the template case: telemedicine leads in, high-dollar dermatologicals out, and a two-state pharmacy in between.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Kansas, “Two Florida defendants sentenced to prison for nearly $900,000 health care scam,” October 16, 2026 — source