A North Texas doctor was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years and one month in prison for a scheme to defraud Medicare millions of dollars, authorities said.

Dr. Daniel Canchola, 54, of Flower Mound, accepted bribes and kickbacks for ordering fake cancer screenings and medical equipment, the Justice Department said. Canchola, who pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was also ordered to pay $34 million in restitution.

Federal prosecutors say Canchola signed dozens of false doctors’ orders for cancer genetic testing without examining or speaking to the patients, who were recruited at health fairs and by telemarketers.

Between August 2018 and April 2019, Canchola received about $30 for each order, for a total of more than $466,000 in bribes, according to federal court documents. The orders signed by Canchola were then used to submit more than $54 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.

Canchola’s arrest in 2019 was part of a nationwide crackdown on fraudulent genetic cancer testing, which the Justice Department called ““one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes ever reported.” The case led to charges against 35 people in several states, including Texas, Florida and Georgia, according to federal officials. Medicare was billed a total of $2.1 billion for the fake DNA tests.

The nine doctors, including Canchola, were associated with telemedicine companies that provided remote care and cancer genetic testing laboratories. Two other Texas doctors, Dr. Sekhar Rao and Dr. Vinay Parameswara, both of Austin, were also convicted in the scheme.

A CBS News investigation in 2019 found that recruiters convinced seniors to submit DNA samples in exchange for a “free” cancer risk genetic test. Many never received test results, but their Medicare accounts were billed thousands of dollars.

Bob Thomas, a former federal prosecutor who now represents whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases, told CBS News that some of these people may not qualify for legitimate DNA testing in the future.

“And it’s tragic in a way because these people are not going to take two bites at this apple,” he said.