A Riley County nurse has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after being found guilty of Medicaid fraud and related charges in three Kansas counties.

According to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, 57-year-old Kathleen M. Kleuskens of Ogden entered pleas and was found guilty in October of a total of 10 charges filed by the attorney general’s office in Clay, Geary and Pottawatomie counties.

Earlier this month, Clay County District Judge John F. Bosch sentenced Kleuskens to 20 months in the Department of Corrections and Geary County Senior District Judge Robert J. Fleming sentenced Kleuskens to 21 months in the Department of Corrections. On Thursday, Pottawatomie County District Judge Jeff Elder sentenced Kleuskens to 21 months in the Department of Corrections.

The sentences in the three counties were ordered to be served concurrently with each other. Convictions such as this one may also result in a period during which the defendant is prohibited from being paid wages through a government health care program.

Kleuskens’ convictions stem from times she was employed as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) at nursing facilities in Clay Center, Junction City and Wamego.

An investigation by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division, Clay Center Police Department, Junction City Police Department and Wamego Police Department revealed that during her times of employment at those facilities, Kleuskens forged prescriptions for opioids and intercepted delivery from pharmacies to nursing facilities, altered records to make it appear that nursing home residents had been timely administered prescription opioids when they had not, altered medical records with other inaccurate information and forged signatures, and exploited internal procedures for discontinued prescriptions.