Daycare owner expected to plead guilty to fraud, theft charges

Feb 25, 2013
Feb 25, 2013 Updated Jun 7, 2023

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- The daycare owner whose van was involved in a fatal crash is expected to plead guilty to fraud charges on Tuesday.

Lavonia Lewars is charged with defrauding the state of Medicaid money and with theft by deception. She's expected to plead guilty to those charges in court.

Prosecutors say she overbilled a government child care subsidy program and wrongly received more than $300,000 in state funds.

They chose not to pursue criminal charges in the crash that killed an adult in the van and injured several children, but Lewars is the subject of civil lawsuits.