Kenneth Bailynson is the former owner of Good Decisions Sober Living in West Palm Beach, Florida, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and was sentenced to six years in federal prison for billing insurers roughly $106 million for medically unnecessary drug testing on his residents. His case took an unusual turn after sentencing: a federal judge later found that Bailynson had lied on the stand as the government’s star witness against his co-defendant, Dr. Mark Agresti, and vacated Agresti’s conviction in January 2025.
The Fraud at Good Decisions Sober Living
Good Decisions operated out of the Green Terrace Condos near Belvedere Road and Georgia Avenue in West Palm Beach, housing people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and providing outpatient care on-site. Between September 2011 and December 2015, Bailynson and his co-conspirators submitted about $106 million in claims to more than 80 private insurers and federal health benefit programs for fluid-analysis drug testing that prosecutors said was not medically necessary.1U.S. Department of Labor. Sober Living Facility Operators Sentenced
The scheme ran on patient brokering. Two Bailynson employees, Stephanie Curran and Matthew Noel, recruited patients from other local sober homes, including the Treatment Center of the Palm Beaches and a facility called Last Stop, funneling them into Good Decisions in exchange for kickbacks and bribes.1U.S. Department of Labor. Sober Living Facility Operators Sentenced Once inside, residents were required to give urine samples several times a week. The tests screened for as many as 80 different drugs, most of which were not addictive. Insurers were billed as much as $5,000 per test and typically paid between $1,500 and $2,000 each.2Palm Beach Post. Judge Grants Dr. Mark Agresti New Trial in Sober Home Insurance Fraud Case
Dr. Mark Agresti served as medical director. In that role, he supplied the standing orders and medical authorization that insurers required before they would reimburse the testing. The defrauded plans included the Amtrak Union Benefits Plan, the Bricklayers Insurance and Welfare Fund, and the Construction Workers Trust Fund.1U.S. Department of Labor. Sober Living Facility Operators Sentenced
Federal and state fraud investigators raided the Green Terrace complex in September 2014, seizing phones, laptops, and boxes of documentation. The Florida Association of Recovery Residences, which assisted investigators, said Good Decisions was “abusing the system” by overcharging insurers for poor-quality care.3WPBF. FBI Raids Sober Living House in West Palm Beach
Indictment, Guilty Plea, and Sentence
On June 22, 2018, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted Bailynson along with Agresti, Curran, and Noel. The case landed before U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II under docket number 18-CR-80124. All four were charged with conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, along with substantive health care fraud counts. Bailynson alone also faced money laundering charges.4U.S. Department of Justice. United States v. Bailynson Et Al. He was arrested and detained pretrial.5CourtListener. United States v. Bailynson
On November 8, 2021, Bailynson pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud and agreed to cooperate with the government.6Palm Beach Post. Sober Home Fraud Scheme Guilty Plea That cooperation would put him on the witness stand at Agresti’s trial a few months later.
Judge Ruiz sentenced Bailynson on April 20, 2022, to 72 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Two months later, on June 22, 2022, the court ordered Bailynson and Agresti to pay $31,041,938.68 in restitution.4U.S. Department of Justice. United States v. Bailynson Et Al.
At sentencing, Bailynson told the court, “I recognize the damage I have caused. I realize the pain I have caused all these innocent people.” Judge Ruiz was less generous. “You are an extremely smart man and you have squandered your gifts,” he said. “But you are a greedy person with a lot of anger.” Ruiz also referenced a remark Bailynson had made earlier: “If you didn’t catch me I would have made $2 billion,” which the judge called evidence of “stunning” avarice.7Insurance News Net. West Palm Sober Home Operator Gets 6 Years in Prison in $31.3 Million Health Fraud Scheme
The three co-defendants were also sentenced in 2022. A jury found Agresti guilty on all twelve counts on February 10, 2022, and he was sentenced on May 27 to 100 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and restitution jointly with Bailynson. Noel pleaded guilty on February 20 and received 14 months in prison and $8,673,925 in restitution. Curran also pleaded guilty on February 20 and received 12 months and one day in prison and $11,294,277 in restitution.4U.S. Department of Justice. United States v. Bailynson Et Al.
The Perjury as the Government’s Star Witness
At Agresti’s February 2022 trial, Bailynson testified that he personally made secret cash payments to the doctor as kickbacks for signing off on the unnecessary tests. Prosecutors leaned on that testimony to show Agresti was a knowing participant rather than a salaried employee out of the loop. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Hayes later put it plainly at Bailynson’s own sentencing: “Without him, there would not have been a conviction, I don’t think… really, without Mr. Bailynson, there was no chance of a conviction.”2Palm Beach Post. Judge Grants Dr. Mark Agresti New Trial in Sober Home Insurance Fraud Case
After both men were behind bars, federal agents found text messages in which Bailynson admitted fabricating the cash-payment story. In one, he sent a link to a Palm Beach Post article about the trial and added, “I buried the guy.”2Palm Beach Post. Judge Grants Dr. Mark Agresti New Trial in Sober Home Insurance Fraud Case He bragged about the perjury to more than half a dozen people, including fellow inmates, longtime friends, and a woman he met on a dating site.8Stet News. Federal Judge Rips Star Witness: He Forgot to Shut Up
Matthew Noel ended up at the same federal prison in Pensacola. There, Noel kept detailed, secret notes of conversations in which Bailynson boasted about lying to the jury. By Noel’s account, Bailynson said he had shaped his story after seeing Agresti’s wife in the courtroom, inventing the cash-payment narrative to make it appear the doctor was hiding money from her. Bailynson told Noel he wanted to make Agresti “look like he had more blood on his hands.”2Palm Beach Post. Judge Grants Dr. Mark Agresti New Trial in Sober Home Insurance Fraud Case
Agresti’s Conviction Vacated
On April 12, 2023, Agresti’s attorneys Greg Rosenfeld and Richard Klugh filed a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence of Bailynson’s perjury.9CourtListener. United States v. Bailynson, Docket No. 585 Judge Ruiz held a two-day evidentiary hearing on June 3 and 4, 2024. Noel and other witnesses testified about Bailynson’s admissions. Bailynson himself acknowledged telling multiple people he had fabricated the cash-payment story, though he offered shifting explanations for why.10GovInfo. United States v. Agresti, Order Granting Motion for New Trial
On January 30, 2025, Judge Ruiz issued a 27-page order granting a new trial. He opened with a Robert A. Heinlein line: “The slickest way in the world to lie is to tell the right amount of truth at the right time — and then shut up.” Ruiz continued: “The star witness in this case, Kenneth Bailynson, might have been wise to follow Heinlein’s advice — instead, he forgot to shut up.”8Stet News. Federal Judge Rips Star Witness: He Forgot to Shut Up
Applying the Eleventh Circuit’s five-part test from United States v. Jernigan, the judge found the evidence of Bailynson’s perjury was discovered after trial, was not the product of any lack of diligence by the defense, and was not merely impeaching but went to the heart of the government’s case. No other evidence or witnesses corroborated the cash-payment testimony, making Bailynson’s lies central to proving Agresti’s intent.10GovInfo. United States v. Agresti, Order Granting Motion for New Trial Ruiz described the testimony as a “fable” in which Bailynson “weaved lies with truths, crafting a narrative that pitted his word against Agresti’s.”2Palm Beach Post. Judge Grants Dr. Mark Agresti New Trial in Sober Home Insurance Fraud Case Quoting Mesarosh v. United States, he added: “The government of a strong and free nation does not need convictions based upon such testimony. It cannot afford to abide with them.”
Agresti’s eight-year sentence was vacated, and by early 2025 he had already been released from prison on bond pending resolution of the perjury allegations. His retrial is scheduled for October 19, 2026.4U.S. Department of Justice. United States v. Bailynson Et Al.
Where Bailynson Stands Now
Despite the judge’s finding that Bailynson perjured himself, no additional criminal charges, contempt proceedings, or perjury prosecution had been brought against him as of early 2025.8Stet News. Federal Judge Rips Star Witness: He Forgot to Shut Up Defense attorney Greg Rosenfeld said he hoped “the government holds Bailynson accountable for his actions,” while acknowledging that a perjury prosecution was unlikely.2Palm Beach Post. Judge Grants Dr. Mark Agresti New Trial in Sober Home Insurance Fraud Case Bailynson had been sentenced in 2022 with credit for roughly two years already served, and he was reported to have been released from custody in July 2024.