IOP man ordered to stay in jail [The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.]

March 22--A jailed Isle of Palms man sentenced this week for embezzling about $1 million in health insurance payments from church workers hoped to be sprung from jail to be treated for skin cancer.

Instead, William Madison Worthy found himself accused of trying to stall the judicial process.

Senior District Judge Henry Herlong Jr. refused Worthy's request and sentenced him to seven years and three months in a federal prison Tuesday. Worthy also was ordered to undergo treatment for alcoholism and pay a yet-to-be determined amount of restitution.

At the sentencing hearing in Greenville, the judge said Worthy had ample opportunity to deal with his lingering health issues and that Worthy was now seeking to use his ailment to delay punishment, according to news reports and Assistant U.S. Attorney

David Stephens, who prosecuted the case.

Worthy's last-known address was a home in the upscale Wild Dunes Resort. He pleaded guilty last year to one charge of "crimes involving the business of insurance in interstate commerce" and had faced more than nine years behind bars.

Worthy, 49, has been held in an Upstate jail since October, when his bond was revoked for violating the terms of his release by contacting a witness. He is considered by Herlong to be a flight risk, Stephens said Wednesday.

His health was the latest twist in the case. It came into play last week when one of his lawyers said in a filing that Worthy's cancerous skin condition required immediate medical attention. Originally diagnosed as an infection, the head lesion "has increased in size and severity," attorney James W. Bannister of Greenville wrote.

Worthy was examined in jail by a physician and treated with antibiotics. A dermatologist later found the growth was basal cell carcinoma, a slow-growing form of skin cancer, Bannister said.

A plastic surgeon brought in by the U.S. Marshal's Service said the malignancy required the attention of a specialist.

Bannister asked Herlong to release his client so he could have the cancer removed by his otolaryngologist in Charleston. He would "self-report" to prison afterward, his lawyer said.

"It does not appear that there is any real disagreement that Mr. Worthy requires extensive surgery and the need for that surgery has become increasingly paramount," Bannister wrote.

Herlong, who already had delayed sentencing once, wasn't moved. The judge had learned from talking with the Charleston surgeon that Worthy had an appointment for the surgery about a year ago, months before his bond was revoked, Stephens said.

"Mr. Worthy canceled the surgery," the prosecutor added. "The judge said, 'I'm sorry you didn't take advantage of the opportunity last spring to have it done.' "

Also, Worthy was assured that he will get adequate treatment once in the custody of the Bureau of Federal Prisons and that "his condition would be addressed," Stephens said.

Worthy's son, William, attended the hearing. He said in an email message late Wednesday that he could not comment for the record without Bannister's authorization.

Bannister and co-counsel James Falk could not be reached.

The case against Worthy centered around more than $3.5 million in health insurance premiums he and one of his companies collected between March 2004 and June 2006.

The Spartanburg native was operating in the Upstate at the time and working with a Tennessee associate, prosecutors have said.

In all, 4,000 claims totaling about $1.7 million were unpaid. Worthy stole about $1 million, not counting the fees he charged, according to court documents. The victim of the failed plan was Fellowship Services, a national provider of employment benefits for pastors and church workers.

Worthy said in court this week that he does have the money to pay restitution. He also said he accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to the victims.

Bannister told Herlong that Worthy is knowledgeable about a larger fraud in Tennessee that is under investigation. He plans to cooperate with authorities in that case, The Greenville News reported.

Reach John P. McDermott at 937-5727.

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