BUTLER TWP — A Butler woman is accused of falsifying documents to collect more than $2,600 through a state Department of Human Services program for personal care services that she never rendered in 2016.

Melissa C. Wampler, 44, on Thursday waived to court felony charges of false or fraudulent medical assistance claim and theft by deception.

She gave up her right to a preliminary hearing at the office of District Judge Kevin O'Donnell in waiving the charges. She remains free on her own recognizance.

An agent with the state Office of Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Section charged Wampler on Dec. 3 following an investigation that began when another agency reported that the defendant had allegedly submitted fraudulent time sheets.

Wampler, according to court documents, in part is accused of submitting the time sheets for periods when she was hospitalized after a car accident in November 2016.

The investigation determined that between February and December 2016 the defendant, documents said, submitted about 247 hours for services she never performed for a Medicaid consumer for whom she was assigned.

Investigators noted that Wampler at the time earned an hourly wage of $10.63, which placed her reimbursement for services not rendered at $2,625.61.

Her next scheduled court date is Feb. 5, when she will be formally arraigned on charges.