A Maryland man accused of being part of a conspiracy federal authorities said bilked the U.S. military insurer TRICARE out of millions of dollars in payments for fraudulent prescriptions was sentenced to three years' probation Thursday and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.
Kenneth Myers Jr., formerly of Maumelle, appeared before U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker for sentencing on one count of violating the U.S. anti-kickback statute. Myers pleaded guilty in August 2021 to the crime, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, in exchange for the dismissal of charges of wire fraud, witness tampering, solicitation of kickbacks and bribes, offer and payment of kickbacks and bribes, and obstruction of justice.
Myers, a former medical sales professional, was accused of recruiting TRICARE beneficiaries to receive compounded drugs from a Mississippi pharmacy that were signed off on by medical providers they had never seen, offering them money in exchange for their insurance information.
Myers admitted to relaying TRICARE information to Albert Glenn Hudson, the organizer of the scheme, who secured the prescriptions through two providers, Joe David May of Alexander and Donna Crowder of North Little Rock. Myers was named in a superseding indictment along with May and Derek Clifton, a former Baxter County High School basketball coach turned medical sales rep who was sentenced to four years in prison for his part in the scheme.
Myers admitted to collecting nearly $70,000 for recruiting TRICARE beneficiaries to receive expensive compounded drugs, for which TRICARE paid over $340,000. Myers acknowledged offering TRICARE beneficiaries money to receive the drugs and that medical providers, including May, rubber-stamped those prescriptions without consulting the TRICARE beneficiaries.
The compounded drugs in question included pain creams, scar creams, supplements and other compounds that prosecutors said were prescribed to patients who did not consult with the physician writing the prescription and often had no need of the drugs, but would receive payment for accepting the prescriptions.
Hudson, 42, of Sherwood, was sentenced to four years in prison in July. Crowder, 62, of North Little Rock, was sentenced in October to serve one year and one day in federal prison and was fined $18,000. Clifton, 41, of Alexander, was sentenced to 51 months in prison in May 2021.
May, 41, was found guilty following a weeklong trial in June on 22 federal counts, including one count each of conspiracy to generate kickbacks and generate fraudulent prescriptions, solicitation and receipt of kickbacks and bribes, falsifying records to impede an investigation, and false statements; two counts of identify theft; four counts of fraud; and 10 counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud. His sentencing has been scheduled for April 13.
According to Myers' plea agreement, his involvement in the conspiracy began in January 2015 when Hudson offered to pay him for beneficiary information, at which time Myers began recruiting beneficiaries to the scheme. That information was then relayed to May or Crowder, who submitted the prescriptions without seeing the patients involved.
In court on Thursday, Myers' attorney, Latrece Gray with the federal public defender's office in Little Rock, asked Baker for leniency for her client. Gray said numerous letters sent to the court described Myers as a "stand-up guy" whose criminal actions were an aberration.
"This crime," Gray said, "this conviction is not a part of his normal character."
Gray pointed out that Myers had no prior criminal history, that he pleaded guilty to a nonviolent crime, that his participation in the conspiracy ended in 2016 and that he had no other blemishes on his record.
"He has done exceptionally well on pre-trial, which we like to think is an indication of how someone could act if given a chance to redeem themselves," she said. "He has done everything the court has required of him."
Gray said that Myers, by pleading guilty, had forfeited his career and many of his rights as a citizen, including the right to vote or to own firearms, and said he will never be able to work in the medical sales profession again.
"He'll have a felony conviction on his record the rest of his life," she said. "The only way he can get a felony off his record is with a presidential pardon, which is extremely difficult to get. Mr. Myers will have to live with being a convicted felon and all the repercussion that come with being a convicted felon."
Gray acknowledged that a probation sentence would be a "big break" for her client, which she said he recognized, but one she said he worked hard to be considered for.
"He has done everything that everyone has asked him to do since he's been on pre-trial," she said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Morgan did not object to probation for Myers.
"There is a demonstrated history of mentorship and community service," Morgan said. "I might suggest in lieu of a fine that a substantial commitment to community service be imposed as a condition of probation along with, of course, settling the forfeiture issue."
Myers had agreed to forfeit just over $67,500 to repay the government for the money he received from the conspiracy. Morgan said to date that Myers has not made any payments toward satisfaction of that amount.
In addition to the sentence of three years' probation and 100 hours' community service, Baker ordered Myers to provide the probation office with his financial information and said he must obtain permission from probation to incur any new debt until his financial obligation to the government is satisfied.
"The court believes the parties' joint recommendation of probation is justified in this case," Baker said as she pronounced the sentence.