Former NFL player sentenced to over 16 years in prison for nearly $200 million Medicare fraud scheme

A former professional football player was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme against Medicare and the veterans health program.

Joel Rufus French, 47, who played for the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers, was sentenced Thursday to 16 years and 4 months in federal prison. In addition, he must pay more than $110.7 million in restitution and forfeit about $17 million in assets.

A scheme fueled by kickbacks and data stolen from seniors and veterans

According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) release, French owned a marketing firm and controlled eight durable medical equipment (DME) companies. For years, he sold personal information of elderly patients and veterans to out-of-country call centers, which pressured victims to accept orthopedic appliances they didn't really need.

"Fueled by lies, bribes, and overseas telemarketers, this corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices — and then billed the taxpayer for it," testified Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin M. McDonald of the DOJ's Fraud Enforcement Division.

French paid kickbacks to alleged remote healthcare companies to obtain medical orders signed by doctors who, in some cases, had not even spoken to the victims. He would then sell those bogus orders to other companies who would submit the claims to Medicare and the CHAMPVA program for veterans.

Six-day trial and a long list of charges

After a six-day trial in February, a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to pay and receive illegal kickbacks.

Authorities noted that French used "ghost" owners and false documents to conceal his actual control over the companies and evade Medicare checks.