YOUNGSTOWN -  Alleging ineffective legal counsel, the man convicted of defrauding Medicaid out of $50 million through the operation of his Austintown drug rehab center is asking a judge to throw out what he claims is an illegal seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Ryan Sheridan, 40, of Leetonia has filed a motion in U.S. District Court to vacate his sentence handed down one year ago today following his plea to sixty counts, which included health care fraud, drug conspiracy, and money laundering.

Sheridan is the former operator of the now-closed Braking Point Recovery Center.

The feds say Sheridan, his ex-wife, and four others hatched a scheme to bill Medicaid nearly $50 million for drug and alcohol services that were not provided, not medically necessary, and lacked proper documentation.

Sheridan’s allegations of ineffective counsel are handwritten, apparently by Sheridan, on a pre-printed form. Instead of hiring an attorney, Sheridan is acting as his own legal counsel in the motion.

Since the filing is beyond the one-year statute of limitations following conviction to file such a motion, Sheridan is asking District Court Judge Benita Pearson for an extension of the deadline, claiming the limited access to a typewriter and frequent quarantine lockdowns at the Ashland Federal Correctional Institution have prevented him from working on his case.

According to federal prison records, if Sheridan serves his entire sentence he won't be released until July 2025.