A Tucson health care executive has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after admitting to embezzling more than $33 million from Apache Behavioral Health Services (ABHS) and the White Mountain Apache Tribe.
Federal prosecutors say Kevin Lamorris McKenzie, 49, carried out the scheme between 2015 and 2023 while serving first as chief operating officer and later as CEO of ABHS, a tribally operated behavioral health provider. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and embezzlement from a tribal organization.
McKenzie has been ordered to repay more than $33.1 million and surrender a range of assets purchased during the scheme, including multiple luxury vehicles, several properties, a utility trailer, and tens of thousands of dollars in cash. An additional $364,447 seized in a separate matter will also be applied toward the restitution total.
According to investigators, McKenzie used two major fraudulent arrangements to divert ABHS funds for personal gain. In the first, ABHS paid more than $35 million to a company called Helping Everyday Youth, which then secretly funneled roughly $16 million to a shell entity controlled by McKenzie. Prosecutors say he concealed the arrangement and attempted to pressure a witness to mislead investigators.
A second scheme, operating from 2018 to 2023, involved bogus referral contracts with Evolved Health Care Inc., a company owned by co-defendant Corina Martinez. Prosecutors say EHI never provided services, yet McKenzie approved more than $16 million in payments to the company. Martinez allegedly used the funds to cover McKenzie’s credit card bills, purchase luxury items and buy an almost $1 million home for his family. The two then split the remaining money.
McKenzie’s 14-year sentence will run at the same time as a separate five-year sentence he previously received in another case. Federal officials say additional proceedings involving co-defendants are ongoing.
Background on recent federal embezzlement prosecutions involving tribal and health organizations can be found in a recent U.S. Justice Department brief.
