This week a Pennsylvania doctor who admitted to over $1 million in false insurance claims submitted to Medicare and private insurers for over 5 years was sentenced to a year in prison. The doctor, John Kristofic, age 62, already paid $3.3 million in retribution to the government following his admission of guilt in January of this year.

Dr. Kristofic was found guilty for submitting false claims for services never rendered between 2003 and 2008. The doctor had been accused of healthcare fraud before, but had never been found guilty by a court until this week’s verdict. Chief U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose pointed out that when a doctor such as Kristofic commits healthcare fraud, it’s a national cost and everyone suffers, particularly in today’s tough economic climate. “It’s cheating… It’s stealing.” Ambrose said.

In 1991 Dr. Kristofic had a brush with the law when he was convicted of withholding assets on a federal form. After that incident, he only lost his medical license for a month. Now, it’s likely that the internal medicine specialist never be allowed to practice medicine again.

As harsh as this punishment will be for Kristofic, it’s neither as harsh as it could have been (the maximum sentence for this level of fraud is 3 years) nor undeserved.