WICHITA, KANSAS
A federal judge resentenced a former Haysville physician and his wife without changing the amount of time they must spend in prison for illegally distributing prescription pain killers to patients who overdosed on them, federal officials announced Thursday.
Stephen J. Schneider, 62, currently in federal custody, was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in federal prison. His wife, Linda K. Schneider, 57, also in federal custody, was sentenced Thursday to 33 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Monti Belot originally sentenced the Schneiders in October 2010 after they were convicted in an eight-week jury trial on charges including conspiracy, unlawful distribution of controlled substances, health care fraud and money laundering, authorities said.
Belot set the case for resentencing after a Supreme Court ruling last year that a victim’s drug use must be the actual cause of death—not just a contributing factor—to impose the harshest penalties under the federal Controlled Substances Act, according to officials.
The judge threw out some of the original sentences, officials said.
During trial, the government’s case centered on the years from 2002 to 2008, when Stephen Schneider saw patients and Linda Schneider, a licensed practical nurse, managed the business of Schneider Medical Clinic in Haysville.
Prosecutors presented evidence that the Schneiders billed more than $4 million to Medicaid and other health insurance providers while they operated the clinic unlawfully, distributing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose, falsifying insurance claims, and engaging in unlawful financial transactions with the proceeds of the crimes.