A local chiropractor became the latest health professional to plead guilty in an automobile accident fraud that federal investigators now believe may have cost insurance companies and the state "millions of dollars."

Jennifer A. Netter, a 38-year-old chiropractor who practices in Bridgeport and lives in Danbury, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to make false statements by exaggerating injuries and ordering unnecessary treatments for auto accident victims.

The chiropractor, a 2000 graduate of the University of Bridgeport's College of Chiropractic, was released on a non-surety bond. Netter, who is pregnant, allowed her chiropractor's license to become inactive on Sept. 30, 2010.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Schmeisser told U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill during the proceedings that information being provided by people cooperating with the investigation put the losses from the scam into "the millions."

At least 500 claims were made.

Netter, who lives in Danbury, is the third medical professional to plead guilty in the scandal. Francisco R. Carbone, a 54-year-old former Bridgeport doctor and psychiatrist pleaded guilty Tuesday to four federal charges relating to the scam. Dr. James W. Marshall, who operates Immediate Medical Care on Main Street in Monroe pleaded guilty to illegally writing prescriptions at Carbone's request for narcotic painkillers to patients he never saw.

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