Article - March 25, 2008 - TriCities.com

Scott County Chiropractor Sentenced for Fraud, Must Get Rid of Zoo Animals

By Mac McLean

A Scott County chiropractor has been given 60 days to figure out what to do with the exotic animals that are living in his zoo before going to federal prison.

Mark Allen Bradley, 34 of Snowflake, Va., was sentenced on Monday to 18 months in prison after earlier pleading guilty to defrauding Medicare and TennCare of about $79,000.

“I’ve lost my wife during this investigation,” he said during a Monday sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court. “I’ll lose my license (to practice medicine), my business, my zoo.”

Bradley was charged with prescribing controlled substances including methadone and oxycodone from his Weber City practice, the Virginia Center for Integrated Medicine, when he was not licensed to do so.

He also was charged with improperly billing Medicare and TennCare for procedures performed by other doctors or nurse practitioners and instructing employees to lie during a federal investigation.

In September, Bradley pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud Medicare and TennCare, unlawfully distributing controlled substances and obstructing justice.

He also is the owner and operator of Snowflake Farms, a zoo that features a wide array of animals including leopards, giraffes, zebras, monkeys and wildebeests.

These animals and the difficulty associated with properly caring for them played heavily into his sentencing hearing on Monday. Karl Mogenson with the Natural Bridge Zoo testified that moving the wildlife to a suitable location will be “a difficult situation and cause undue hardship (to the animals).”

He said it could take 30 to 60 days to find suitable homes for the animals, some of which could be pregnant and should not be moved.

Taking this into account, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Hogeboom asked that Bradley be given time to make arrangements for the animals’ care. He said the animals could escape if they were mistreated, which could pose a danger to the community.

“This is a difficult case,” Judge John Jones said. “On the one hand, it’s clear that you defrauded the government ... on the other hand, you’ve likely lost many things in your life and obviously there’s this problem with your avocation of running the zoo.”

Jones sentenced Bradley to 18 months in federal prison, although federal sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of 24 to 30 months. Bradley must also serve three years of probation and pay back the money to Medicare and TennCare.

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