Feds charge phony certified drug counselor with fraud

Dec. 24--A north suburban woman who posed as a certified drug counselor and treated troubled patients -- including a 20-year-old man who died of a heroin overdose while under her care -- was charged in a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday with defrauding more than $200,000 from patients and insurance companies.

Kimberly Even, 51, claimed she was a certified drug counselor for years, operating a drug-treatment center in suburban Northfield even though she lacked the required credentials, federal prosecutors said. She continued to pose as a counselor even after the state pulled her clinic's license, according to the charges.

Even was featured in a front-page Tribune article in January 2012 that detailed her troubles. She later pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery in Cook County Circuit Court and was sentenced to five years in prison.

"I know what you are," Judge Garritt Howard told her as he imposed the sentence, the maximum possible, in June 2013. "You are a common thief."

Even pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the 15-count indictment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier and remained in custody, according to prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors say Even was brazen, maintaining she was a certified drug counselor in the progress reports she sent judges and court personnel overseeing court-ordered drug treatment of her patients.

Not even the overdose death of her client, Chase Beh in 2009, gave her pause, according to prosecutors. Even, who counseled and oversaw Beh's treatment, continued to operate her North Shore Adolescent Recovery Center at least into 2011, they said.

"I can't imagine how she could have been in practice and no one looked into her credentials," Beh's mother, Christine Beh, told the Tribune in 2012. "I think what she did was unconscionable. It's a betrayal that I just think is unbelievable."

After the state began moving to revoke her facility's license in January 2010, Even continued to fraudulently bill insurance companies, claiming she was providing licensed care, prosecutors said. She didn't stop even after the license was revoked in December 2010, according to the charges.

The state eventually closed her clinic after the Department of Human Services found numerous rules violations, including a lack of a required medical director, a DHS spokeswoman previously told the Tribune. The department also determined Even misrepresented her credentials and forged documents.

sschmadeke@tribpub.com

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