HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - A pharmacist will spend 16 months in prison for defrauding a federal health insurer by soliciting patients to receive unneeded medications.
Silas Richmond II of Jackson was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett after pleading guilty in July to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
Richmond was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $355,000 of restitution at $250 a month after leaving prison.
He admitted in court to helping find people to receive unneeded medications in exchange for $21,000 in kickbacks between December 2014 and August 2015. Those prescriptions cost a federal military health insurer $546,000.
Richmond was convicted in a larger investigation into pharmacies that officials say bilked more than $400 million from insurers.
He will report to prison later.
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