The owner of a company that provides in-home care to Medicaid participants in New Hampshire has been sentenced to at least 1 1/2 years in prison for submitting nearly $111,000 in false claims for program funds.

Sixty-three-year-old Richard Gaudette, of Danville, was sentenced Monday in Merrimack County Superior Court. Enforcement of the sentence was stayed pending his appeal.

Gaudette was the owner of the Happy at Home Care and Assistance company. Prosecutors said over a four-year period, Gaudette claimed and received reimbursement for in-home, personal care services that were never actually provided, which included periods when clients were in hospitals, nursing homes, or deceased.