By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 20-year-old Alabaster woman facing a felony Medicaid fraud charge has been rearrested after she allegedly came to a court hearing late and tested positive for methamphetamine.

Haily Carden, who lists an address on Washington Lane in Alabaster, was set to appear in Shelby County Circuit Court for a status call on March 23, but appeared late and tested “positive for meth,” according to an order issued by Judge Dan Reeves.

Reeves typically orders drug tests for all suspects who arrive late to their court dates.

Carden was taken into custody at the courthouse, and currently is being held in the Shelby County Jail without bond. She is scheduled to appear in court again on April 27 at 8:30 a.m.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office arrested Carden and 25-year-old Christopher Paul Hitt, who lists an address in Flat Rock, on Sept. 21, 2014, after they were indicted on one felony charge of Medicaid fraud apiece in mid-September.

According to their indictments, Carden and Hitt allegedly submitted a Medicaid statement falsely “claiming to have two minor children in (their) custody and failing to report job income resulting in claims in the approximate aggregate value of $9,678.52 … knowing the same to be false.”

According to Alabama law, Medicaid fraud is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison or a $10,000 fine upon conviction.

In January, Hitt agreed to a plea agreement sentencing him to three years of supervised probation. However, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the charge and the sentence if Hitt repays $1,472 to the Alabama Medicaid Agency by Jan. 5, 2016.