Joel Rufus French was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison for taking part in a yearslong health care fraud scheme built around patient information, sham doctors’ orders and orthotic braces that people did not want or need.
French also was ordered to pay nearly $111 million in restitution, and the government said it had seized roughly $17 million from bank accounts that he must forfeit. The scheme involved $197 million, according to the Justice Department, which said French worked with overseas telemarketers that pressured elderly Americans to hand over health information and agree to braces they did not need. The telemarketers altered call recordings to make it sound as if patients had agreed when they had not.
French was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to offer, pay, solicit and receive kickbacks. Prosecutors said he paid fraudulent companies to get signed doctors’ orders even though he often never interacted with the patients. Colin M. McDonald said the case was driven by “lies, bribes, and overseas telemarketers” that preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans and then billed the taxpayer for it.
The case centers on orthotic braces, a durable medical device, and the government said the scheme targeted elderly Americans and disabled veterans. French’s name had once been attached to a very different kind of public profile: he starred at Ole Miss, was twice a First-team All-SEC tight end, and was a unanimous All-American in 1998. He went undrafted in the 1999 NFL Draft but later played in two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.
McDonald said the sentence should warn anyone tempted by similar schemes that if they target the elderly, sick or vulnerable and steal public money, they will be brought to justice. For French, the punishment closes a case that tied a former football standout to one of the most aggressive medical device fraud prosecutions in recent years.
