Prosecutors Seek Probation for Key Witness

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Citing his critical testimony and substantial cooperation, federal prosecutors are asking a federal judge to sentence a key witness in a drug compounding case to two years probation and no jail time for his guilty plea to 10 counts of mail fraud.
In a nine-page filing today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. the prosecutors also disclosed that the defendant, Scott Connolly, began cooperating with federal investigators a full year before a grand jury indicted 14 people associated with the New England Compounding Center.
The indictment followed a two year probe of the 2012 fungal meningitis caused by NECC steroids loaded with deadly fungi.
Under federal guidelines, Connolly could face a sentence of up to 33 months, but Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Varghese and Amanda Strachan said Connolly's statements and testimony "were critical" in corroborating the evidence against other defendants.
They noted he testified extensively in multiple trials. His brother Joseph, also an NECC employee, was also a government witness. The brother was not charged.
Nonetheless they conceded that Connolly worked as a pharmacy technician at NECC for over two years even though he had surrendered his registration as a result of an incident at a prior employer. He was under investigation by the state Pharmacy Board at the time.
Citing the drug Connolly prepared, cardioplegia, prosecutors said the scheme he engaged in was "highly dangerous." The drug is used to stop a patient's heart during heart surgery and was shipped to medical facilities across the country.
In addition they noted Connolly used NECC president Barry Cadden's user name and password when signing into the company system to avoid detection. He also dropped his technician's duties when regulators appeared at NECC.
However, citing Connolly's "honest and truthful statements, prosecutors said, "In sum Connolly's cooperation has been substantial and directly led to the successful prosecutions in this case."
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