A jury has found a doctor guilty in a $10 million TRICARE scheme.
After a week-long trial, an Alexander, Ark., doctor was convicted for being party to a multimillion-dollar bribery racket, a recent press release from the U.S. Department of Justice said.
A federal jury found 41-year-old Joe David “Jay” May guilty on the 22 counts he was charged with. The jury released its verdict the night of June 9 after deliberating for three hours. United States District Judge Kristine Baker presided over the trial and will sentence May on a later date.
“Dr. May used his signature as a rubber stamp to help his friends rake in millions of dollars in kickbacks from fraudulent prescriptions," Jonathan D. Ross, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, said in the release. "His crimes are a reprehensible abuse of his Hippocratic oath and his medical license. Our office and our federal law enforcement partners at the FBI and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) are resolved to continue to bring to justice all other health care professionals who defraud our nation’s healthcare systems.”
FBI agents also commented publicly on the case.
“TRICARE is dedicated to serving our veterans, military members, and their families," James Dawson, FBI Little Rock special agent in charge, said in the release. "Dr. May displayed a lack of integrity by defrauding millions from our nation’s military insurer and lying to our Agents in an effort to conceal his crimes. The FBI is committed to working alongside our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect our service members and their loved ones from corrupt medical professionals like Dr. May.”
Other agents explained the crimes in more detail and praised the verdict.
“Dr. May engaged in a kickback scheme that undermined federal healthcare programs,” Miranda Bennet, HHS-OIG special agent in charge, said in the release. “This verdict is a testament to strong law enforcement partnerships committed to holding physicians accountable for providing quality care to beneficiaries of these programs.”
