COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Supreme Court of Ohio has indefinitely suspended the law license of a Boardman attorney convicted of padding client medical bills to boost his own pay.

In a decision released Friday, the court ruled that Anthony J. Fusco will not receive credit for the time his license has been inactive since September 2022. This ruling means Fusco must wait at least two years before he is eligible to apply for reinstatement.

Fusco was admitted to the practice of law in 2015. Between March 2017 and October 2019, he submitted falsely inflated medical bills in 399 cases involving 62 different insurance companies. According to court documents, Fusco added a total of $859,464.44 to these bills.

The scheme increased the legal fees earned by his firm, which in turn increased Fusco’s performance-based bonuses. Court records show Fusco received more than $118,000 in bonuses during the period, a portion of which resulted directly from the fraud.

Fusco resigned from his firm in October 2019 after an insurer questioned a suspicious bill. He pleaded guilty to a felony charge of insurance fraud and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He served about 40 days of that sentence before being granted judicial release.

Writing for the court majority, Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy stated that Fusco does not deserve credit for the time he has already served under suspension. The opinion noted that Fusco’s crimes spanned more than two years, he personally profited from the misconduct, and he has not paid restitution to the insurance companies.

Justice R. Patrick DeWine dissented regarding the length of the sanction. He argued that Fusco should receive one year of credit for time served, noting that without it, Fusco faces a total suspension of more than five years. DeWine wrote that this punishment is disproportionate compared to other attorneys who committed similar financial crimes.

During disciplinary hearings, Fusco testified that he misused Adderall while committing fraud, sometimes staying awake for more than 50 hours to work. He entered into a contract with the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program in April 2024 to address mental health concerns