An eyecare provider in Jasper and Calhoun, Georgia, has been sentenced to nearly 3.5 years in federal prison for allegedly bilking Medicare and Medicaid of more than $1.2 million.

Matilda Lynn Prince, 42, of Mineral Bluff, Georgia, was sentenced last week to three years, four months imprisonment, federal prosecutors announced. A jury last January convicted Prince of 29 counts of health care fraud stemming from allegations that she filed fraudulent claims with Medicare and the Georgia Medicaid program for optometry and ophthalmology services that were never provided to patients, according to court records.

Natasha Silas with the Atlanta division of the Office of the Federal Defender Program Inc., Prince's lead attorney in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Another attorney, Lynn Merritt, of Temple, Georgia, said in an email that she is handling an appeal for Prince.

According to prosecutors, Prince owned Pickens Eye Clinic in Jasper and operated Eye Gallery 20/20 in Calhoun. From September 2011 to February 2014, she allegedly submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for complex ophthalmological procedures although the patients received only basic eye exams and measurements for prescription glasses.

Prosecutors claim that Prince targeted her advertising toward senior citizens and disabled populations in housing complexes and community centers and saw patients on-site.

“Prince will now spend time in federal prison for stealing over a million dollars from the Medicare and Medicaid programs by submitting fraudulent claims for services that were not performed,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Byung J. “BJay” Pak said in a statement. “Prince diverted critical resources away from the elderly and low-income families who were most in need of care.”

In addition to imprisonment, Prince was ordered to pay $609,000 in restitution and sentenced to three years of supervised release.