A fugitive who claimed to be Mexican but was betrayed by his Cuban accent -- which led to his arrest in Spain -- was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment Monday in Miami federal court on U.S. Medicare fraud charges.

Alcides Garcia, 44, of Pembroke Pines, asked the judge for ``forgiveness'' after his lawyer challenged the total amount of fraud -- $10.7 million in false claims, according to prosecutors. Garcia's Hialeah medical equipment business collected $2.2 million for supplies never provided to patients.

U.S. District Judge Marica Cooke ordered Garcia to pay it all back. But if he is like hundreds of other Medicare fraud prosecutions, the taxpayer-funded program for the elderly won't likely recover much money.

Garcia, who pleaded guilty to one count of defrauding Medicare, listed himself and others as the owner of A&Y Medical Supply from 2002 to 2004, billing Medicare for power air mattresses, feeder pumps and other equipment.

``This defendant figured out it was easier to hide through other people,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Bernstein, adding that Garcia used a local billing firm, All-Med, headed by a Miami Lakes couple convicted of unrelated Medicare fraud last year.

Garcia fled South Florida before his trial a year ago. Free on $200,000 bond, he traveled to Mexico, then Spain, then the Canary Islands, on a false Mexican passport. Initially, the FBI thought he had escaped to his native Cuba.

But Garcia made a mistake on the lam, when he went to a shipping company in the Canary Islands in February to have his belongings sent from Miami to the Spanish island.

The business owner grew suspicious of him because he said he was Mexican, but she detected his heavy Cuban accent. The accent was familiar to her because people on the Canary Islands are known to speak Spanish like Cubans.

The business owner Googled Garcia's name on the Internet and up popped a Miami Herald/El Nuevo story published in January that described Garcia as a Cuban-born fugitive wanted on Medicare fraud charges in South Florida. The story, which carried a mug shot of Garcia, confirmed his identity.

The owner called the FBI in Miami. Special Agent Robert Cessario notified authorities in Madrid.

Garcia later checked into a hotel in the capital city, using his real name and the false Mexican passport. The Spanish National Police arrested him on an FBI warrant in March.

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