Memphis, TN — A federal judge has resentenced former Tennessee State Senator Katrina Robinson, 43, of Memphis, to time served and imposed a $48,600 fine for making fraudulent misrepresentations to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The new sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Reagan Fondren.
Robinson, who was the founder and director of The Healthcare Institute (THI), a for-profit organization offering educational and training programs for healthcare careers, had previously been convicted of wire fraud. Between 2015 and 2019, THI received over $2.2 million in federal grants from HRSA.
According to a Justice Department’s press release, in 2021, a jury found Robinson guilty of two counts of wire fraud related to unauthorized transfers from THI’s operating account for personal expenses, including funds used for her wedding. The jury also found Robinson guilty of making false claims on HRSA’s Annual Performance Review forms for the years 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. Specifically, she misrepresented the number of students who received scholarships through the program. For the 2017-2018 period, Robinson reported that 215 students had received scholarships, but an investigation revealed that only 161 students had actually been awarded funds.
Following the conviction, Robinson filed a motion for a judgment of acquittal, which the district court granted for the charges related to misrepresentations made to HRSA. However, the U.S. government appealed the court’s decision, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the acquittal, reinstating the jury’s verdict on the 2017-2018 misrepresentation charge. The appellate court determined that Robinson had intentionally misled HRSA to secure continued funding for her organization.
As a result of the appeal, Chief U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman resentenced Robinson to time already served and imposed the $48,600 fine. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General.
