Chin Forfeiture Set At $175,000

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A federal judge has issued a $175,000 forfeiture order against the former pharmacist who was found guilty of racketeering and mail fraud charges last year.
While stating that he agreed with many of the arguments offered by federal prosecutors, the order from U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns substantially reduced the more than $600,000 sought by the prosecution.
Chin's lawyer had argued that the forfeiture should be limited to $5,776 while prosecutors had sought $611,774. Stearns noted that prosecutors have stated they intend to make the forfeited money available to victims of the outbreak.
As the 18-page decision noted, Stearns has delayed action on a separate $82 million restitution order that prosecutors say would also benefit the thousands of victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak caused by fungus riddled steroids prepared in a clean room at the now defunct New England Compounding Center.
Chin was a supervising pharmacist at NECC where he oversaw the preparation of thousands of vials of methylprednisolone acetate that were injected in the spines and joints of unsuspecting patients.
At least 76 people died among nearly 800 who were sickened during the outbreak.
Chin and 13 others were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2014 following a two year criminal probe of the outbreak.
Chin is scheduled to begin serving an eight year sentence on March 14.
In setting the $175,000 figure Stearns said the proposal by prosecutors would force Chin to forfeit his entire salary from 2006 to 2012. But the judge concluded the amount should be limited to the salary Chin collected after NECC became a criminal enterprise in 2010 till it shutdown in October of 2012.
From that amount, Stearns deducted $125,499 in federal taxes taken from Chin's gross pay.
Stearns also wrote, however, that Chin and other co-conspirators "were fully aware of the risks involved" in shipping contaminated drugs and he cited the harm caused "by the fraudulent scheme" that impacted thousands of patients injected with those drugs.
Stearns also issued an order Friday recommending that Chin serve his sentence at the federal prison in Danbury, Conn. He had previously recommended placement in the federal prison at the site of the former Fort Devens military base near Ayer, Mass.
Stearns amended his original order after learning from Chin's lawyer that a drug and alcohol treatment program that Chin needs is not available at Fort Devens but is available in Danbury.
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