St. Paul lawyer gets 16 months in prison for car-crash scheme involving chiropractors

Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN)

A St. Paul personal injury lawyer was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison Tuesday for defrauding auto insurance companies with phony injuries from car crashes.

Brad Ratgen, 52, admitted in November that between 2015 and 2021, he paid runners to recruit car-crash clients who would seek treatment from chiropractors who were in on the scheme.

Ratgen sought $59,483 in fraudulent payments and ended up with $22,748, according to federal prosecutors.

The Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau informed Ratgen in July 2021 that he was the target of an undercover investigation. Yet, Ratgen continued negotiating with State Farm on behalf of recruited client, reaching a $3,500 settlement months later.

U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen told Ratgen on Tuesday she was “struck by the determined approach you took to committing the crime,” even after he was interviewed and other defendants were indicted. “It still didn’t click that you should stop.”

Prosecutors charged Ratgen in October, and he pleaded guilty a month later to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, a felony. The prosecution and defense agreed a six- to 12-month prison sentence was appropriate, but Ericksen decided on 16 months, matching the sentence given in 2020 to another attorney, William Kyle Sutor, who did the same thing.

Several chiropractors have been convicted, too.

“Ratgen played a critical role in the fraud scheme targeting Minnesota automobile insurance policies. In the end, Minnesotans end up paying more for automobile insurance policies as a result of fraud schemes like the one in which Ratgen participated,” assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Jacobs wrote in a memo to the court.

Defense attorney Kevin Rich said Ratgen has stipulated to disbarment, effectively ending a law career that focused on immigrant clients in and around St. Paul’s Midway. Rich asked the judge to consider a home-confinement sentence instead of prison, which would have allowed Ratgen to continue caring for a 20-year-old son who has Down syndrome and autism.

“Mr. Ratgen is a kind and generous person who has accepted responsibility for his poor judgment, and a sentence of home confinement would allow him to support his family and provide care to his adult special-needs son while still atoning for his criminal conduct,” Rich wrote the court.

Ratgen must report for prison on June 20. His sentence includes a year of supervised release, a $10,000 fine and $22,748 in restitution to four insurers.Related Articles