By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
Published October 2025
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A former Alabama Medicaid Agency employee has been sentenced for stealing more than $100,000 in public funds, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Monday.
Natalie Colette Lewis, 60, of Montgomery, pleaded guilty in August to aggravated theft of property. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Brooke Reid sentenced Lewis to 10 years, with three years to serve in the Montgomery County Detention Facility, followed by two years of probation. The remaining seven years were suspended.
According to investigators, Lewis worked for the Medicaid Agency’s Non-Emergency Transportation Division since 2006. Between December 2019 and November 2024, she filed 1,631 fraudulent claims for medical transportation reimbursements on behalf of her son, a Medicaid recipient. The medical appointments never occurred, and Lewis collected $103,413.26, which she spent on personal expenses.
“Public employees hold a position of trust, and when that trust is violated—particularly when taxpayer dollars are stolen—there must be consequences,” Marshall said. “This sentence makes clear that abuse of public office will not be tolerated.”
Under Alabama law, Lewis will forfeit her state retirement benefits because she used her position to commit a felony. However, her personal contributions, with interest, will go toward restitution.
The case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit after the Medicaid Agency discovered the theft.