WILLIAMSPORT — The former workers’ compensation director at a Clinton County nursing home has been placed on two years’ probation and fined $10,000 for conspiring to steal more than $500,000 through a kickback scheme that involved a physician.

Paul D. Polen, 72, of Lock Haven, also must forfeit $628,450, be on home confinement for six months, and participate in a mental health treatment program.

U.S. Middle District Judge Mathew W. Brann imposed that sentence Thursday, choosing to vary downward from the guideline of 30 to 37 months in prison.

Polen had pleaded guilty in January to a charge of conspiracy to engage in theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.

He was employed at the then county-owned Susque-View Home Nursing and Rehabilitation Center from the early 1990s until 2022, holding various positions, including director of security.

His duties in his workers’ compensation position included completing and submitting paperwork needed for employees to receive payments.

“I know what I did was wrong,” he told the judge. “I should not have conspired with Dr. (David A.) Lindsay to take government money.”

The following is the description of the conspiracy as outlined by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma at the guilty plea hearing:

In 2002, Polen approached Lindsay about a physician consulting position that was becoming vacant.

Conditions of employment included that Lindsay would report to and pay half his compensation to Polen each month as a kickback.

His responsibilities included conducting physical examinations of employees and evaluating their conditions for workers’ compensation claims. The duties required at most a few hours of work a month.

He also provided the medical evaluation for Polen’s own workers’ compensation claims related to back issues that resulted in him working fewer hours but for the same pay.

Lindsay made monthly kickback payments by check to Paul D. Polen Inc., a company Polen established and of which he made his wife president in name only.

The size of the payments grew along with Lindsay’s compensation. The initial kickback payment was approximately $1,700, and it later grew to about $2,500.

Polen and Lindsay, who died last December, took various steps to keep the payments secret from management, the trustees who were the county commissioners, and other employees.

The government has not explained the difference between $628,450 that Polen has been ordered to forfeit and the loss of $528,450 that he has repaid.

Defense attorney William Howard Newman acknowledged his client committed a serious crime and had no justification for doing so.

He argued for a non-custodial sentence, citing Polen’s contributions to the community and contending, at his age, he is unlikely to be a repeat offender.

Sharma recognized Polen had done a lot of good in the community, but noted he was trying to steer people from making bad choices while involved in the kickback scheme.

As a former police officer, he knew right from wrong, the prosecutor said, arguing for jail time. He had been trusted to run the workers’ compensation program, he said.

He did not need the money as he was paid by Susque View more than $100,000 a year, he said.

It was not until after the county commissioners sold the facility in 2022 to Allaire Health Services of New Jersey for $12.5 million that the financial irregularities were discovered and reported to authorities, Commissioner Jeff Snyder previously said.

Susque-View had a self-funded workers’ compensation plan, meaning it assumed financial responsibility to pay its employees’ claims.