{"id":52818,"date":"2023-04-14T19:40:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-15T02:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52818"},"modified":"2023-04-14T19:40:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-15T02:40:00","slug":"nine-sentenced-for-involvement-in-a-126-million-prescription-drug-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52818","title":{"rendered":"Nine Sentenced for Involvement in a $126 Million Prescription Drug Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON D.C.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Nine defendants \u2013 including three compounding pharmacy owners, a physician, two pharmacists, and three patient recruiters \u2013 were sentenced Thursday for their respective roles in a years-long, multi-state scheme to defraud the Department of Labor\u2019s Office of Workers\u2019 Compensation Programs (OWCP) and TRICARE, the health care program for U.S. service members and their families.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

The sentences include:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • John Cruise<\/strong>, 52, of Houston, a former co-owner of Assurance Consolidated Pharmacy (ACP), a pharmacy located in Spring, Texas, as well as an owner of the Injured Federal Workers Advocate Association (IFWAA), an organization that purported to assist injured federal workers, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • LaShonia Johnson<\/strong>, 50, of Houston, a former co-owner of ACP with her husband and co-defendant Cruise, and director at IFWAA, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Kenny Ozoude<\/strong>, 48, of Houston, former owner of Compounding Solutions LLC, a Houston-based pharmacy, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • James Don Jackson<\/strong>, 63, of Tyler, Texas, a medical doctor licensed in Texas, was sentenced to five years in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Nirvana Hightower<\/strong>, 56, of Houston, a pharmacist licensed in Texas and pharmacist-in-charge at Compounding Solutions LLC, was sentenced to five years in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Keith Hudson<\/strong>, 55, of Humble, Texas, a pharmacist licensed in Texas and pharmacist-in-charge at ACP, was sentenced to 3 years in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Audra Jones<\/strong>, 46, of Houston, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Terrance Aice<\/strong>, 50, of Carrollton, Texas, a patient recruiter, was sentenced to one year and six months in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Sherod Johnson<\/strong>, 44, of Las Vegas, a patient recruiter, was sentenced to one year and six months in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \"\"The defendants submitted false and fraudulent claims to the OWCP and TRICARE for prescriptions for compounded and other drugs prescribed to injured federal workers and members of the armed forces. <\/span><\/p>\n

    The defendants also paid kickbacks to patient recruiters and physicians to prescribe these drugs. <\/span><\/p>\n

    The defendants chose the particular compounds and other drugs based not on the patients\u2019 medical needs but in light of the amount of reimbursement for the drugs. <\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"The drugs were then mailed to patients, even though the patients often never requested, wanted, or needed them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Four additional defendants (Dr. Jay Bender, Dr. Deepak Chavda, Donathan Kemp, and Naresh Jivanji) are scheduled to be sentenced on May 25.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Trial Attorneys Catherine Wagner and Patrick J. Queenan of the Criminal Division\u2019s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant Chief Scott Armstrong, Assistant Chief John \u201cFritz\u201d Scanlon, Trial Attorney Michael McCarthy, and former Trial Attorneys Jay McCormack and Sarah Edwards of the Fraud Section previously prosecuted the case.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    WASHINGTON D.C. Nine defendants \u2013 including three compounding pharmacy owners, a physician, two pharmacists, and three patient recruiters \u2013 were sentenced Thursday for their respective roles in a years-long, multi-state scheme to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-department-of-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nNine Sentenced for Involvement in a $126 Million Prescription Drug Scheme<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"WASHINGTON D.C. 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