Arizona AG's office secured 188 sober living indictments; victims say charges don't bring justice

PHOENIX - For three years, fallout from massive fraud within Arizona’s Medicaid system has continued.

Local perspective:

In 2024, FOX 10 reported on a class-action lawsuit filed against AHCCCS and the state’s Department of Health. There are an estimated 7,000 Native American plaintiffs suing for wrongful death and gross negligence. The lawsuit alleges that both AHCCCS and DHS turned a blind eye, allowing bad actors to exploit vulnerable people for billions of dollars by offering behavioral health services never rendered.

Randi Honyumptewa is a mom who wanted help for her alcohol addiction and stayed at a so-called sober-living home in Phoenix. Instead of getting clean, her mother says the staff enabled her drinking problem.

"As far as I know, she's been drinking heavily there at the facility and I guess one morning or Christmas Eve, she had a hangover of some sort, and she wanted something to, where the pain of her headache or whatever, and the manager that was there gave her fentanyl," Evelyn Williams, Randi Honyumptewa’s mother, said.

After taking that pill, Randi went into cardiac arrest, her mother says, leading to a traumatic brain injury. She is now incapacitated and requires constant care.
"They said she has 95% brain damage, so she's unable to talk. But when we do see her, she sounds like she's in pain of some sort," Williams said.

According to the lawsuit, the manager of that sober-living home identified Vestine Mukarukundo as Randi’s doctor. It is a name already known. Vestine was one of 10 people indicted in an alleged patient brokering scheme. She and her co-defendants are accused of running unlicensed sober-living homes.

Investigators with the attorney general’s office say the group agreed to send 75 clients to a fake behavioral health facility. The alleged kickback? 300 bucks per person, every week.

Now, Vestine runs a tax accounting company. A stop was made by her office to see if she wanted to discuss her case, but she was not available. Her next court hearing is set for November.

Families are also speaking out, including the family of Kecia Ramos, a missing Native American woman who hasn't been seen for two years. Her cousin says Kecia’s twin sister was recruited and picked up in a white van on tribal land to go to a sober-living home in Phoenix.

"She then was told that if she brought on any newcomers, that they would provide her with $200 cash. So, anybody that she brought in, they were getting paid $200 for human head. With the promises that they would get treatment, because she was addicted, so that she would get treatment and was promised all these things that were not true," said Savanna Howard, Kecia Ramos’ cousin.

The backstory:

Kecia and her twin were shuffled through different facilities, and ultimately ended up at Thomas Suites in Phoenix.

FOX 10 has extensively reported on this former motel which operated as an unlicensed treatment center that housed nearly 150 Native Americans. Conditions inside have been described as "deplorable." Per state health officials, clients living at Thomas Suites were shuttled to a behavioral health facility called New Life Wellness multiple times a week.

James Demasi ran Thomas Suites and owned New Life Wellness centers. But in 2023, he pleaded guilty to fraudulent schemes and illegal control of an enterprise on behalf of New Life Wellness. That is key because on paper, the company was convicted of fraud, not Demasi.

As part of the plea deal, Demasi agreed to pay $25 million in restitution. But AHCCCS records show his clinics made $80 million in nine years before the state cut them off due to allegations of fraud.

Even after the Department of Health hit Thomas Suites with the cease-and-desist order, the facility continued operating as a re-entry program for parolees until it closed in 2025. Savanna Howard says there is only one way to describe what happened to Kecia.

When asked if she feels like her cousin was trafficked, Howard responded, "100%."

"I mean, when you start to research everything, how can you not see it as it's not trafficking humans? When you're taking people, you're putting them into a van. You're telling other people. I'll give you $200 if you go and get another human being, we're paying you to go grab another human and bring them back. Tell me how that's not trafficking," Howard continued.

What they're saying:

Shortly after Attorney General Kris Mayes took office in 2023 and vowed to crack down on Medicaid fraud, she was asked specifically about potential trafficking charges.

"We are examining that question here at my office. I’m going to look at the human trafficking statutes and determine whether any of them are appropriate for a given instance of fraud or given particular instance of these sober-living homes," Mayes said in a previous interview with FOX 10.

"She's taken the low-hanging fruit"

Attorneys for the BrewerWood Law Firm represent the plaintiffs. John Brewer and Dane Wood say the state hasn’t done enough.

"She's taken the low-hanging fruit. It's easy to prove the fraud," Brewer said. "Meanwhile, Randy is in her own prison. Literally in prison, stuck to a bed, confined to a bed, mentally trapped."

They argue that prosecuting white-collar financial crimes does not bring justice to these families.

"An LLC can't go to jail," Brewer added.

So, the numbers were looked at. Since 2021, the AG’s office, which includes the late Mark Brnovich’s tenure, brought 188 indictments related to the sober living scheme. The question was asked if any of those included charges for trafficking, negligent homicide, manslaughter, vulnerable adult abuse and any drug offenses. The answer? Zero so far.

"What's the explanation as to why you haven't been willing to charge these individuals and entities with crimes against persons? Again, that's much more difficult for them to prove, and that's why, in the sense that it takes them more time, more effort," Wood said.

A spokesperson for the attorney general provided a statement reading, "The charges you asked about have not been brought because the evidence in the cases did not support those charges. The attorney general’s office would not hesitate to bring charges where and when the evidence supports it and where there is reasonable likelihood of conviction."

The AG’s office did provide data showing they have 49 indictments for homicide or abuse and 402 indictments for fraud and abuse in other cases over the last five years. But again, none of those are directly connected to sober living. Mayes maintains it all comes down to evidence.

"I know that no number of indictments or convictions or amount paid back in restitution can undo the pain and heartbreak and suffering caused by this scandal," Mayes said in a recent press conference.

What is evident is the impact. Twin sisters, still separated.

"They have never, ever in their life gone more than three days without talking, ever… And so, the fact that even Anecia hasn't heard from her for this long, something is very, very, very wrong," Howard said.

And Randi’s 11-year-old daughter doesn’t have her mother in her life.

"I think she's going to come home, but she doesn't yet, and I want to see her and I just I'm gonna give her a big ol' hug and not let go," Aria Spencer, Randi’s daughter, said.

Big picture view:

In May 2025, the AG’s office awarded 11 tribal nations and nonprofits across Arizona up to $500,000 each. That money is supposed to help victims of sober living fraud. But the message heard from victims is clear, financial aid is not enough. They want to see harsher criminal charges for people who profited off their loved ones.