FARMINGTON, CALIFORNIA – On Monday, an Industry man was sentenced on charges stemming from his practice of physical therapy without a license at a Farmington nursing home.  Brent Dellarma, 44, was given a five-month jail sentence, a total of eight years probation and ordered to make $40,000 in restitution to Genesis HealthCare, owners of Sandy River Center for HealthCare, on a charge of theft by deception.

An assistant physical therapist at Sandy River since 2005, Dellarma told the organization in 2007 that he was studying to become a physical therapist and requested time off to pursue it.  He returned to work with an invalid license dated June 18, 2007, and subsequently began working as a physical therapist.

The nursing home became suspicious in early 2008 when they informed their therapists that they needed to renew their licenses.  Dellarma’s license showed a different year on the expiration date than the other therapists and contained outdated wording.  The nursing home contacted the state physical therapist licensing board and discovered that he only had a valid assistant physical therapist license.  His employment was suspended and then terminated in April 2008.  In December 2008, his assistant therapist license was permanently revoked by a state board of examiners. 

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