Federal prosecutors allege Young father and son drugged patients in Los Angeles recovery facilities

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles accuse Nathan Young and his son David Young of drugging patients and restricting their freedom to maximize insurance payouts at their Southern California recovery centers. The criminal complaints filed by the Department of Justice detail a scheme spanning from 2020 to 2026 that involved multiple facilities, including Rodeo Recovery in Beverly Hills.

The Youngs operated a network that prosecutors say targeted vulnerable individuals, including those experiencing homelessness or poverty, through intermediaries known as body brokers. These brokers lured potential patients to Southern California with offers of free flights, money, and temporary housing. Once in California, patients were allegedly sorted into premium or non-premium categories based on their insurance reimbursement rates. Premium patients received hotel stays and private apartments, while others were placed in crowded, unsanitary housing described in court documents as trap houses.

According to the complaints, the facility owners billed major health insurers for more than $1.6 million in claims during the six-year period and were paid more than $210 million. Prosecutors allege the payments covered non-existent therapy sessions and medically unnecessary detoxification services. The text message exchanges revealed in the filing show Nathan Young making placement decisions based on insurance carriers, once referring to a United Healthcare patient as a bad policy compared to an Alaska-based insurer.

Reuven Cohen, the attorney for Nathan Young, stated that his client denies the allegations and intends to challenge the government's case. Cohen argued in a court filing that Nathan Young cooperated with investigators and offered to surrender his passport before his arrest. The Youngs, who each posted $4 million in bail, are currently under home detention and have surrendered their passports. They are scheduled for a hearing on November 5.

The arrests are part of a wider healthcare fraud crackdown that resulted in the custody of eight people and the charging of 15 defendants, including six medical professionals. The case coincides with renewed public scrutiny of the region's recovery industry following the death of Presley Gerber at a luxury sober living home in Santa Monica last month. Gerber's death has intensified questions about safety protocols in high-end facilities.

Prosecutors allege that employees coached patients to fabricate symptoms to qualify for detox services and encouraged them to use substances to meet eligibility criteria. When patients attempted to leave, the Youngs allegedly directed staff to administer medication to knock the clients out. The complaints also note that patients were sometimes cut off from communication with family members to prevent them from leaving the cycle of billing.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division said the data would guide the department to wherever offenders were located. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli noted that every dollar drained from insurance systems reduces funds available for those who need care. Patrick Grandy, the assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, added that the fraud cheats taxpayers and healthcare programs out of billions of dollars.