Prominent Houston couple John Cruise and his wife, LaShonia Johnson, were sentenced to a combined 35 years in federal prison after being convicted of fraud.
The couple were accused of being part of conspiring with 11 others to defraud the United States Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (DOL-OWCP) and TRICARE, a health care program for military personnel. The group, which included one additional pharmacy owner, a physician, two pharmacists, and three patient recruiters, was accused of defrauding $126 million in the scheme
Cruise and his wife jointly owned both the Phil & Derek’s Restaurant and Jazz Lounge and the Assurance Consolidated Pharmacy. They allegedly participated in the scheme when they experienced struggle and had to assume new ownership.
The Justice Department outlined the alleged scheme, stating, "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.
"The defendants also paid kickbacks to patient recruiters and physicians to prescribe these drugs. The defendants chose the particular compounds and other drugs based not on the patients’ medical needs but in light of the amount of reimbursement for the drugs. The drugs were then mailed to patients, even though the patients often never requested, wanted, or needed them."
Source: news.yahoo.com
