Two former Center residents, and one time owners of an ambulance service, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal violations in a health care fraud scheme.

According to U.S. Attorney John M. Bales, 57-year old Cathy Harvill and 60-year old Bill Harvill, now of Elgin, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Giblin in Beaumont.

According to information presented in court, the Harvill’s owned and operated North East Texas EMS, and from January 2007 through March 2012, the defendants carried out a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid by submitting false and fraudulent claims for non-emergency, scheduled, repetitive ambulance services which did not meet Medicare program coverage criteria.

The defendants each face up to 10 years in federal prison at sentencing. Sentencing dates have not been set.