Sentencing Set for Key NECC Witness

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

An April 22 date has been set for the long delayed sentencing of a key government witness in the criminal case stemming from the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
In an order issued late last week U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns set the date for Robert Ronzio of North Providence, R.I., who was the head of sales at the New England Compounding Center, the company that produced thousands of vials of an injectable steroid laden with deadly fungi.
Under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Ronzio entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December of 2016.
Ronzio was a key witness in the trials of Barry Cadden and Glenn Chin. Cadden was NECC's president and part owner while Chin was a supervising pharmacist in the clean room where the contaminated methylprednisolone acetate was prepared.
Both Cadden and Chin were found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud charges and are now serving federal prison sentences. The two are also facing second degree murder charges in Michigan.
Ronzio also testified in subsequent trials of NECC defendants, including the most recent trial of two former NECC pharmacists.
Ronzio's sentencing had been scheduled for Jan. 31, 2018 but was then delayed indefinitely under a joint agreement between federal prosecutors and Ronzio's lawyers.
Under his plea agreement Ronzio admitted to being involved in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ronzio's sentencing is scheduled for 3 p.m. on April 22 in Stearns' Boston, Mass. courtroom.
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