Danieal Kelly: MultiEthnic Social Workers Found Guilty in Federal Court of Fraud

After a month-long trial and two days of deliberations, four former employees of MultiEthnic Behavioral Health, Inc. were found guilty of conspiracy, lying to federal agents and multiple counts of health care fraud and wire fraud, stemming from the death of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly. Kelly, who suffered from cerebral palsy, was found dead in her home in August of 2006 of bedsores and malnutrition.

MultiEthnic was contracted by the City of Philadelphia to follow Danieal Kelly's case and make regular visits to her home. The four were convicted of defrauding the city of millions of dollars by failing to carry out home visits to the family of Danieal Kelly and other families under their watch, and then falsifying documents regarding home visits that never occurred.

On trial in U.S. District Court were co-founders Mickal Kamuvaka, 60, who served as day-to-day manager; and Solomon Manamela, 52, and caseworkers Mariam Coulibaly, 42, and Julius Juma Murray, 52. Sentencing is scheduled for June. According to sentencing guidelines, prosecutors indicated that Kamuvaka could get nine to 11 years or more in prison, Manamela could get eight to 10 years, Coulibaly faces six or seven years and Murray faces four or five years in prison. Kelly's mother, Andrea, is serving 20 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder.

Kamuvaka and Murray still face charges of involuntary manslaughter in Philadelphia court, and Murray faces federal immigration charges.

During the three week trial, witnesses testified to the defendants fabricating reports and progress notes regarding visits that didn't take place, or ordering them to be fabricated. They also testified that documents were shredded or discarded when DHS and the government began investigating Danieal's death. Other witnesses testified that Kamuvaka and Manamela failed to provide proper training and supervision to agency workers. Murray claimed to have visited the Kelly home less than two weeks before Danieal died on August 4th. Prosecution witnesses testified that if he had been there on that date, he could not have failed to notice the odor from Kelly's massive bedsores.

William Cannon, Kamuvaka's attorney, still maintained that the managers "were the victims of their own staff, social workers who did her in," by falsifying reports and not making assigned visits.

Five other people have been charged in Danieal's death: her mother, charged with murder; her father, charged with endangering the welfare of children for failing to act and "abandoning" Danieal to the inadequate care of her mother; and three of Andrea Kelly's friends, charged with perjury for lying to the grand jury about the girl's condition before her death.

A massive overhaul of the city's Department of Human Services (DHS) was undertaken as a result of this scandal, and the City's Assistant Health Commissioner resigned after a grand jury report revealed that she tried to cover up the details of Danieal's death. Danieal Kelly's case was brought to the public's attention in late 2006 when the Philadelphia Inquirer published a series of articles focusing attention on the failings of DHS, particularly on the case of Danieal Kelly, and over 20 other children who died while they or their families were supposed to be under the supervision of DHS.

For the entire history of this case, visit Patricia Sicilia's Profile Page and search "Danieal Kelly."

Sources: Caseworkers Guilty of Fraud; Social Workers Guilty