Press Release  AG’s Office Secures Indictments Against Plymouth County Caregiver For Caretaker Neglect, Kidnapping, And Unemployment Fraud

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) today announced that Jennifer Small, 44, of Plymouth has been indicted by a Plymouth County Grand Jury on three counts of Caretaker Neglect, one count of Kidnapping, and one count of Unemployment Fraud relating to her alleged significant mistreatment of an elderly, intellectually disabled man. 

According to the charges brought by the AGO, in February 2019, Small was hired to provide full-time in-home care services for an elderly man with intellectual disabilities. In February 2024, Small called the police to report the man’s death. When police arrived at the man’s home, they discovered significant clutter in the man’s bedroom, including feces smeared on the walls, piles of soiled diapers, and food wrappers and remnants caked into the carpets. They also discovered that there was no bedding on the man’s mattress, which was also soiled with feces and urine. Officers noticed that the door to the man’s bedroom could only be locked from the outside. The AGO alleges that Small had kept the man locked inside the room against his will. 

The AGO further alleges that, even while supposedly working as a full-time caregiver, Small filed for unemployment benefits from November 2020 through August 2021. Small received approximately $38,000 in allegedly fraudulent unemployment payments during this time.  

The AGO began its investigation following a referral by the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, as a result of reporting by the Plymouth Police Department. These charges are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.  

This case is being handled by Managing Attorney Heidi Lyn Gosule, Assistant Attorney General Mark Hochberg, and Senior Healthcare Fraud Investigator Ashley Marquez Byrne, all of the AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division, and Senior Investigator Lashauna Craig, of the AGO’s Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Division. The AGO received substantial assistance from the Plymouth Police Department, the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC), and the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS).    

The AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division is a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, annually certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and prosecute health care providers who defraud the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth. The Medicaid Fraud Division also has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of residents in long-term care facilities and of Medicaid patients in any health care setting. Individuals may file a MassHealth fraud complaint or report cases of abuse or neglect of Medicaid patients or long-term care residents by visiting the AGO’s website.  

The Massachusetts Medicaid Fraud Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $6,458,176 for federal fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,152,724 for FY 2026, is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

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