A civil case brought by Mobile County prosecutors targeting an alleged scheme to funnel car crash victims into a network of affiliated chiropractic clinics and law firms has expanded significantly, with an amended filing adding 14 new defendants spread across at least six states. The growing list of companies and individuals now includes a telemarketing operation, a chiropractic management firm, and legal entities based as far away as Arizona and Indiana.
What the Amended Filing Alleges
According to the amended complaint, the newly added defendants worked together to rapidly obtain information about people involved in car crashes, contact them through telemarketing efforts, and steer them toward a network of associated clinics and law firms. The filing names companies including Media Placement Services, Skyrise Management, Chiropractic Strategies Group, Sterling Shield Legal and Vacek Holdings, along with sister clinic locations in Huntsville, Homewood and Montgomery. Prosecutors describe these entities as telemarketing, management, holding and legal arms of a coordinated enterprise rather than independent businesses acting on their own.
Four individuals were also newly named as alleged co-conspirators: Douglas Friedman of New Orleans, Louisiana; Brian Culliney of Louisville, Kentucky; Nicolas Probosz of Sarasota, Florida; and William Daniel Vacek of Bradenton, Florida.
The Original Ten Defendants
The case began with ten named defendants, anchored locally by South Alabama Medical & Rehab, known as SAM&R, a Mobile-based clinic. Also named in the original filing were clinic owner Chad Loveless, a chiropractor based in Celina, Texas; Mobile office manager Stephanie Wilson; alleged telemarketer Bryan Walters of Jonesburg, Missouri; and Michael Kent Plambeck of Bradenton, Florida, whom prosecutors describe as the chiropractor at the top of the broader clinic network. The original complaint also named several attorneys and law firms connected to the case, including Florida-based attorney Robert Dolinsky and the Dolinsky Law Group, Birmingham attorney Tiffany Tolliver, and the Washington, D.C.-based Vacek Law Group along with its Alabama-based attorney, John Carradine Baker Sr.
Echoes of a Similar Case From 2008
The case draws striking parallels to a nearly identical scheme that insurance company Allstate sued over in 2008. That earlier lawsuit accused Plambeck and more than 60 affiliated people, companies and lawyers of running a scheme under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly known as RICO, as well as Ohio’s version of the law. Among the defendants in that case was a Mobile-area doctor whose clinic was located near the Mobile Police Department.
A federal jury ultimately found the defendants in the 2008 case liable, and the court assessed judgment and fees at roughly $3.86 million. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that verdict in 2015.
The newly amended Mobile County filing brings the current case notably closer in structure to the earlier Allstate litigation. Of the newly added defendants, Media Placement Services and Douglas Friedman appear to have the clearest documented ties to Plambeck. According to the 2015 Fifth Circuit opinion, Plambeck owned Media Placement Services, while Friedman managed the solicitation side of that earlier multistate operation.
How the Alleged Scheme Reportedly Worked
Court records from the earlier federal case describe a specific method of operation: employees of Media Placement Services purchased police crash reports and reviewed them to identify motorists who were not at fault in their accidents, often focusing on lower-income individuals without health insurance. Telemarketers would then reach out to offer free spinal exams and schedule appointments at clinics operated under Plambeck-owned Chiropractic Strategies Group. The Fifth Circuit opinion further found that Friedman wrote the telemarketing scripts used to reach potential patients, directed callers on which motorists to target, and served as head of marketing for Chiropractic Strategies Group.
In the current Mobile County case, prosecutors now allege that Media Placement Services, Friedman, Culliney and Probosz worked in coordination with the clinics and alleged runners to obtain information about accident victims, echoing the pattern described in the earlier federal litigation.
Why This Matters for South Alabama Residents
Cases like this one carry real significance for Mobile County residents who have been involved in a car accident. Alabama motorists who are contacted unexpectedly after a crash — whether by a telemarketer offering a free medical exam or by someone claiming to represent a law firm — are often encountered by exactly the kind of solicitation network described in this litigation. Consumer advocates generally recommend that crash victims be cautious of unsolicited outreach, verify the credentials of any clinic or attorney before signing paperwork, and consult directly with their own insurance provider or a trusted local attorney rather than responding to cold calls generated from police report data.
The case also underscores the broader scrutiny facing multistate networks that combine chiropractic care, patient recruitment and legal representation, an arrangement regulators and insurers have challenged in multiple states over the years.
What Comes Next
With 24 defendants and entities now named across Alabama, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arizona and Indiana, the litigation has grown into one of the more expansive fraud-related cases to originate from Mobile County in recent memory. Southal News will continue to follow the case as it moves through the legal process and additional filings are made public.