Federal prosecutors in Brownsville have indicted State Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra for allegedly taking more than $12,000 in kickbacks in a Medicaid fraud scheme. Five Rio Grande Valley dentists conspired to steal the money from the federal program, they say.

Rios Ybarra lost her state representative position in the Democratic Primary earlier this year is expected to serve out her term which ends on Dec. 31.

Prosecutors claim Rios Ybarra took at least three payments from Gary Morgan, owner of Valley Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in McAllen in 2008 for referring Medicaid patients to him. He is an oral surgeon. Two Mission and two McAllen dentists were also involved in the scheme, according to the indictment.

Ybarra was taken into custody last week but was released the same day on $100,000 bond after surrendering her passport to federal authorities, who ordered her not to leave the state. Rios Ybarra said, "I am shocked, surprised and disappointed at the allegations made against me. I have devoted myself to my dental patients and to following high ethical standards in my professional capacity as a dentist for 12 years. I respectfully ask that people not rush to judgment until all the facts are disclosed."

Rios Ybarra could be sentenced to five years in prison and a $25,000 fine for each charge pending against her if she is convicted.