Ihlenfeld announces the success of the Mountaineer Highway
Interdiction Team. Photo by U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Ihlenfeld with his oldest daughter, Sarah.
Photo by Rebecca Ihlenfeld.
Ihlenfeld receives the Outstanding Support to
the National HIDTA Program Award in 2017.
Ihlenfeld has been a fierce advocate for
directing federal resources to Northern
West Virginia to combat the drug epi-
demic. When he began as a U.S. attorney
in 2010, there was no money coming
from the Office of National Drug Con-
trol Policy to counties in his district.
When he departed in 2017, 25 percent
of the district’s counties were receiving
funding, which annually totals more
than $1 million.
“One of the things I am most proud of
is fighting for and obtaining this funding
in the Northern Panhandle, the Eastern
Panhandle and North Central West Vir-
ginia,” says Ihlenfeld. “Even though I’m
no longer a U.S. attorney, the money still
flows to our state to help with enforce-
ment and prevention efforts.”
To further support substance abuse
prevention, Ihlenfeld invested time speaking
with children of all ages through Project
Future, an initiative that educates youth
about the science behind addiction and
the importance of making good decisions.
He was also part of the creation of the
first federal drug court in West Virginia,
a diversionary program that provides
individuals the opportunity to avoid
imprisonment and a conviction on their
record if they successfully complete the
rigorous process.
Ihlenfeld joined Bailey & Glasser LLP
in Charleston, WV, in January 2017,
where today he handles complex civil
litigation, including health care compli-
ance and fraud defense, as well as white
collar crime and internal investigations.
He provides practical counsel and rep-
resents health care providers and relat-
ed organizations at trial, on appeal, in
administrative and regulatory disputes
and with cyber security.
“It’s challenging but enjoyable to keep
up with ever-changing technology and
the technological threats to the data our
clients possess,” he says. “Cyber crimi-
nals are smart and savvy and are always
looking for new ways to attack networks,
and it’s rewarding to sit down and strat-
egize with clients about how to strength-
en their defenses from the ground up.”
His clients range from physicians,
nurses, medical assistants, pharmacists,
psychiatrists and psychologists to physi-
cian groups, hospital organizations, local
and regional hospitals, national hospital
systems and medical schools.
“My favorite part of the job is getting
a good result for a client,” he says. “We
handle high-stakes, bet-the-company
litigation, so failure is not an option.”
Ihlenfeld became familiar with health
care litigation while working for the U.S.
Department of Justice. As a U.S. attorney,
he created a health care fraud working
group to better identify federal criminal
violations.
“We took a data-driven approach to
the prevention of health care fraud in
West Virginia to proactively evaluate
health care reimbursement data of med-
ical providers in the state,” he says. “By
using advanced statistical analysis, we
were able to identify potentially fraudu-
lent billing patterns and uncover waste
and abuse more efficiently.”
Outside of work, Ihlenfeld has been
a volunteer with numerous community
organizations and a board member of
nonprofit organizations that support vic-
tims of crime and the visually impaired,
including the Upper Ohio Valley Sexual
Assault Help Center, West Virginia Coa-
lition Against Domestic Violence, Wheel-
ing YWCA’s Family Violence Prevention
Program, The Seeing Hand Association
and The Martinsburg Initiative. In 2016,
he led a team of WVU College of Law
students to Southern West Virginia to sup-
port flood relief efforts, helping victims
repair their homes and providing them
with essential supplies. Ihlenfeld also vol-
unteered for Legal Aid of West Virginia,
meeting with individuals in need of legal
advice and assuming representation of
cases on a pro bono basis.
“I give back to causes I’m passionate
about and that have a need,” he says.
“I not only provide financial support to
these groups, but I also give my time,
and I do that because community service
runs in my family. I also do it because
God has blessed me with so much that I
feel like He expects me to give some of
my blessings back to those who are less
fortunate.”
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