A Louisiana nursing home owner who sent more than 800 residents to a warehouse during Hurricane Ida in 2021 will only serve three years of probation, The New York Times reported July 22.
In August 2021, during Hurricane Ida, Bob Dean ordered more than 800 nursing home residents to be evacuated into a warehouse designed to hold 200 to 400 people. Four residents died and 15 required hospitalization. The state launched an investigation in September 2021 and revoked Mr. Dean's seven nursing home licenses and terminated Medicaid agreements.
Mr. Dean, 70, pleaded no contest to 15 criminal charges, including cruelty to persons with infirmity, Medicaid fraud and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but the sentence was deferred, and Mr. Dean was placed on probation for three years. If he successfully completes probation, he will serve no time behind bars.
In November 2022, Mr. Dean settled a class-action lawsuit over the case for $12.5 million. In January 2023, he was sued by the U.S. government for allegedly misallocating $4 million in Federal Housing Administration funds. The suit alleges that between 2016 and 2021, Mr. Dean required four nursing homes he operated to pay "rent" on an industrial warehouse, according to a Jan. 12 Justice Department news release. The rent, totaling more than $1 million, was paid to one of his corporate entities. He allegedly funneled much of that money into his personal bank accounts.