Kenneth Myers Jr., 43, of Alpharetta, Georgia, formerly of Little Rock, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in connection with a multimillion-dollar fraud involving prescription drugs, making him the ninth defendant to do so.
The crime involved paying and receiving kickbacks to generate prescriptions for compounded drugs, which are medications mixed specifically for an individual patient. Tricare, the military’s health insurer, paid more than $12 million for the prescriptions.
Myers joined eight others who have pleaded guilty in the case: Albert Glenn Hudson, 40, of Sherwood; Derek Clifton, 39, of Alexander; Donna Crowder, 66, of North Little Rock; Jennifer Crowder, formerly Bracy, 38, of Little Rock; Keith Benson, 50, of North Little Rock; Keith Hunter, 52, of Little Rock; Angie Johnson, 50, of North Little Rock; and Blake Yoder, 40, of Scott; according to a news release from Jonathan Ross, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
The news release said that Myers collected nearly $70,000 for recruiting Tricare beneficiaries to receive expensive compounded drugs, for which Tricare paid more than $340,000.
Myers said he offered Tricare beneficiaries money to receive the drugs and that medical providers, including co-defendant May “rubber stamped prescriptions without consulting the Tricare beneficiaries,” the release said.
After learning that a federal agent planned to interview a beneficiary about his prescription, Myers told “the man to lie by claiming he had been examined by a doctor before getting his prescription,” the release said. “When Myers was later interviewed, he lied to the FBI by claiming he played no role in securing prescriptions and instead directed beneficiaries to consult their own doctor.”
Conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute is punishable by up to five years in federal prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Myers will be sentenced at a later date.
Dr. Joe David “Jay” May, 40, of Alexander, also has been charged. May faces charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, violating the anti-kickback statute, aggravated identity theft, lying to the FBI and falsifying records in a federal investigation. His trial is set for Dec. 6.
