A woman accused of practicing medicine in town without a license will spend eight years behind bars after pleading guilty to two felony fraud charges last week.
Catharina Hunter, 48, who was charged with fraudulent use of identifying information and fraudulent securing of document execution, on Tuesday received two- and eight-year sentences, respectively, to run concurrently.
The faux physician hung out her shingle as a healer for three years, investigators said.
Hunter was first arrested in 2016 after the Chicago doctor she was accused of impersonating contacted the Boerne Police Department. Dr. Catherine J. Hunter received notification someone in Texas was using her name and Drug Enforcement Agency number to write prescriptions.
According to a 2016 arrest-warrant affidavit, the defendant had prescribed a patient Allopurinol – a medication used to treat gout – with a “Hope for Life Alternative Treatment Center” letterhead, identifying a false practice in the 700 block of North Main Street.
The patient prescribed the medication also informed investigators the suspect had performed several “invasive procedures,” according to the affidavit, including several forms of IV injections.
The patient was billed more than $22,000 and paid upwards of $15,000 by the time investigators caught wind of the case.
Over time, the defendant offered cures for patients suffering from ovarian cancer and cardiac issues to autoimmune diseases, according to the court document.
While Hunter was first arrested in 2016 on evidence stemming from a case in 2014, she recently was reindicted after new paperwork was filed by Assistant Criminal District Attorney Alessandra Deike.
Deike said a 2019 indictment charging Hunter with practicing medicine without a license had been dismissed when the statute of limitations ran out.
“The defendant was reindicted for fraudulent use and possession of identifying information. So, when I inherited the case, that was what was pending – the fraud uses,” Deike said.
Deike began working with Boerne police to determine a more appropriate charge.
She began looking through patient files seized by law enforcement during the execution of the 2016 arrest warrant. Deike said that allowed her to move on the fraud cases, which had a longer statute of limitations.
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