Detelich, 40, of Clearwater, Fla., formerly of Hermitage and Clark, was sentenced in April 2008 to 3 years in prison based on his 2007 conviction on charges of health care and mail fraud.

Detelich, who is being held in the minimum security Pensacola Federal Prison Camp, owned Detelich Chiropractic and Advanced Medical and Holistic of Hermitage, both formerly of Hermitage. A jury found that Detelich submitted bills to Highmark Inc. for treatments that were not rendered to patients.

In his appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, Detelich, represented by Robert J. Ridge of Thorp Reed & Armstrong, Pittsburgh, said U.S. District Court Judge Joy Flowers Conti, Pittsburgh, improperly told the jury that Detelich had to show that he completely withdrew from the fraud scheme. The instruction shifted the burden of proof from prosecutors to Detelich, he said.

Third Circuit Judge D. Michael Fisher, writing for the three-judge panel, said the appellate court has repeatedly held that a withdrawal from a fraud scheme must be complete. It still was up to the government to show that Detelich had not withdrawn by the dates set in the indictment, Fisher said.

While Detelich has made no public statements on the case, Ridge has said Detelich has admitted that he was guilty of some of the wrongdoing alleged by the government. However, he contended that Detelich had not been involved in the fraud scheme for more than five years prior to the indictment, which, under the statute of limitations, would have rendered the offenses too old to be prosecuted.

Fisher said Detelich’s move to California and his institution of ethics policies could have been interpreted by the jury as an effort to deflect blame. Detelich did not tell any of his co-conspirators — three of his ex-employees pleaded guilty to health care fraud — to stop the fraudulent billing, and continued to accept money from the scheme, Fisher said.