California faces a severe shortage of licensed mental health treatment facilities, and existing facilities often fall far short of expectations.
The I-Team began investigating Sovereign Health in 2017. In 2018, Brandon Nelson committed suicide at Sovereign's San Clemente treatment facility.
The tragedy was recorded in a 911 call made by the home's caretaker.
Dispatcher: “911, what's the emergency?”
Manager: “Hey, someone hanged themselves in there.”
Deliveryman: “What is your address?”
Manager: “Please come here!”
Dispatcher: “Address!” (Requested multiple times over several minutes) “Doctor, I'd like you to start CPR. Stop talking and listen to the sounds of the county fire.”
A panicked 911 call marked the end of Brandon Nelson's life. The 26-year-old aerospace engineer became mentally ill and spent his final days in an Orange County treatment facility.
I was told by phone that the caretaker of the house was unable to perform CPR and even the address was confusing. The Nelsons recently settled a wrongful death lawsuit against Sovereign and company CEO Tonmoy Sharma for $11 million.
“We hope this settlement provides some solace to the families of the victims of their loss,” a lawyer representing Sovereign's former insurance company said in a statement. “This settlement reflects a compromise by the parties regarding the disputed claims and is not an admission of liability.”
The I-team's efforts to reach Thonmoy Sharma ended in failure.
“I know it's not going to bring my son back, but I want to make sure no other family has to go through this again,” Rose Nelson said.
The Nelsons' story illustrates the challenges faced by people seeking help from a mental health crisis.
His parents say they only realized the extent of Sovereign's false promises after Brandon's death.
“It was advertised as, 'We'll have a psychologist watching you 24/7, we'll have a house manager, we'll have a psychiatrist come in and do group therapy.' It was all a lie,” Rose Nelson said.
“And actually, things were even worse than we imagined,” Allen Nelson said.
“There's not a lot of training on how to deal with people who come back high or have mental health episodes,” said Desiree Raucci, a former Sovereign employee. Nelson's ousted civil suit spoke of her experience working for her king.
“I mean, I know this industry is a little shady to begin with, but Sovereign blew it away with what they were doing,” Raucci said.
The I-Team first spoke to her in 2018, a year after more than 100 FBI agents raided Sovereign Health's headquarters and treatment facilities. Shortly after that attack, and eight months before Brandon's death, the I-Team met with Tonmoy Sharma.
“We serve 15,000 patients. There will be some who are not happy with us,” Sharma told the I-Team in 2017.
He pointed to the hundreds of positive testimonials on the company's YouTube channel.
“This is a service industry like hotels and airlines,” Sharma said. “Someone somewhere will complain about baggage fees.”
“Wow. I don't see how anyone could be happy about retaining and hiring someone who used to work in the construction industry as a mental health professional,” Allen Nelson said.
Alex Barnard, a professor at New York University, specializes in medical sociology and mental health. He said it's not uncommon for unlicensed professionals to work in these types of mental health treatment facilities, where they are paid close to minimum wage to run groups and supervise patients. It is said that there are many cases.
“Most of the contacts will be unqualified professionals who are paid close to minimum wage to run groups and supervise people,” Bernard said. “Mostly [the facilities] It's private in California. Many of them are commercial. I think most people would actually be surprised at how little medical staffing there is in many of these places. ”
Much of Barnard's research focuses on California, which suffers from a shortage of treatment beds and mental health professionals.
“These facilities and private providers actually have significant influence over the state and can sometimes prevent necessary regulation and oversight,” Barnard said.
California is looking to expand mental health services through newly introduced “CARE courts” and Proposition 1, a multibillion-dollar ballot initiative in March that promises “treatment, not tents.”
The Nelsons are concerned about people in need receiving quality care.
“Conceptually it sounds good,” Allen Nelson said. “But if they end up where Brandon ended up, there will be more tragedies. So that's our big concern.”
Sovereign Health has been sued multiple times and is currently out of business. In 2022, a jury awarded insurance company Health Net nearly $45 million, finding Sovereign and Sharma liable for fraud. The case is on appeal.
The Nelsons still want criminal charges filed.
“Where's the FBI? Where's the Orange County Attorney's Office? Where's the State's Attorney's Office? I don't understand why no one is taking a more serious look at what's going on,” Allen Nelson said.
The Nelsons plan to use a large portion of their multi-million dollar settlement to fund quality mental health treatment as a way to honor their son and protect others from endless grief.
The I-Team has confirmed that a federal investigation into Sovereign Health and Tonmoy Sharma is ongoing.
