A federal jury in Dallas determined Thursday afternoon that a Fort Worth pharmacy owner was guilty of paying kickbacks and conspiring to launder money in a scheme that the government claims cheated taxpayers out of $55 million.
The jury, which began deliberations Wednesday after hearing five days of testimony, found Richard Hall not guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States but convicted him on four counts of paying kickbacks and one count of conspiracy to launder money.
The money laundering conviction carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while each kickback conviction is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Hall was the co-owner of Rxpress Pharmacy, which is also known as The Medicine Store Pharmacy Inc., and Xpress Compounding. The government alleged, and the jury seemingly agreed, that Hall paid kickbacks to marketers who were tasked with recruiting doctors to prescribe compounded medications that were then filled by Hall’s pharmacies.
The bill for those medicines, which are often expensive and prepared by hand in small batches, was then sent to two federal health insurance programs: TRICARE, which provides healthcare to military personnel, and a program authorized under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act to provide workers’ compensation benefits for federal employees injured or killed on the job.
Hall had argued that he believed paying marketers to steer business to his pharmacies was a legitimate business expense.
The government presented evidence that Hall used the money paid out by the federal government to fund an extravagant lifestyle that included chartering yachts and private jets and purchasing Lamborghinis and Ferraris.
U.S. District judge Karen Gren Scholer presided over the trial that began with jury selection July 18.
Hall is represented by John D. Cline of San Francisco, Marlo Cadeddu of Dallas and Lance T. Evans of Fort Worth.
Katherine Payerle, Lee M. Hirsch and Jacqueline DerOvanesian of the Department of Justice prosecuted the case for the government.
The case number is 3:18-cr-0623.