Article - April 15, 2008 - Eagle Tribune

Haverhill chiropractor arraigned in auto fraud case

By Jim Patten

SALEM — A Haverhill chiropractor charged in the ongoing auto insurance fraud probe can't be faulted for what his clients do, his lawyer said.

Dr. Troy Wheelwright, 40, of Amesbury pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges at his arraignment in Salem Superior Court yesterday. He is the owner of Haverhill Family Chiropractic at 606 Broadway in Haverhill.

The state attorney general's office alleges Wheelwright participated in the auto fraud scheme by treating people involved in staged car accidents and then submitting false insurance claims for money.

Wheelwright wouldn't comment, but his lawyer Paul Cirel did, praising his client's work.

"Dr. Wheelwright can't be expected to know what's in the minds of people who come to him for treatment," Cirel said. "My client will be exonerated."

Wheelwright was indicted earlier this month along with a North Andover chiropractor, two local lawyers and three other men. They are: Andover attorney James Hyde, 56, of Boxford; Michael Kaplan, 46, of Hampstead, N.H., operator of Kaplan Chiropractic, 200 Sutton St., North Andover; Omar Castillo, 35, of Methuen, a runner and former van driver for Kaplan; and Josue Jerez, 28, of Lawrence. Those men are scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in Salem Superior Court.

Prominent Lawrence lawyer Socrates De La Cruz, 34, of Methuen, also was indicted and is scheduled to be arraigned in Salem Superior Court on Friday. Leo Lopez, 28, of Lawrence, also named in the indictment, was arraigned last week.

This marks the second time that a special grand jury investigating auto insurance fraud in the Greater Lawrence area has returned indictments.

In September 2004, a grand jury initiated by District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett culminated in the indictments of 16 people — including three lawyers and four chiropractors — who were charged with being part of a Lawrence-based "network of fraud" that helped drive up auto insurance rates across the state. That probe focused on a cottage industry of crime where middlemen known as "runners" get paid to steer accident victims to lawyers and chiropractors for cash.

Both grand jury probes were prompted by the ongoing crackdown on auto insurance fraud in the wake of the September 2003 death of a 65-year-old great-grandmother from Lawrence, who died in a staged crash that police said she helped plan to scam insurance companies.

Wheelwright was indicted on two counts of making a false motor vehicle insurance claim, two counts of larceny over $250, two counts of attempting to commit a crime, and four counts of conspiracy.

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