Walter F. Roche Jr.
The Michigan Attorney General is asking his state's highest court to deny an appeal filed by a former Massachusetts pharmacist charged with 11 counts of second degree murder.
In a 29-page motion filed this week in the Michigan Supreme Court, Attorney General Dana Nessel said the case against Glenn Chin should now go before a jury.
Her brief is in response to a claim by Chin's lawyers that prosecutors failed to identify any act by Chin that caused the deaths. Without such an act, Chin's lawyers say that the case should not have been bound over for trial.
The prosecution counters by identifying a series of actions by Chin, including ordering employees to falsify records about santitary checks that were supposed to have been performed.
Chin and co-defendant Barry Cadden, were indicted in Michigan for their role in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that sickened more than 700 patients, eventually killing more than 100 of them.
Cadden was president of the New England Compounding Center, the company that produced the fungus riddled drugs. Chin was the supervisor in the clean room where the tainted methylprednisolone acetate was produced.
In the brief filed by the attorney general she cited Chin's pervasive mismanagment of the clean room and concluded that Chin set in motion "a force likely to cause death or great bodily harm."
His actions did, in fact, cause the 11 deaths," the brief states.
Frequently citing the testimony of former NECC employees, the brief states that "Chin ordered technicians to forego cleaning."
The brief details how one contaminated NECC shipment went to the Michigan Pain Center, where the 11 patients were fatally injected.
"There is ample reason to believe that but for Chin's actions these deaths could have been avoided," the filing states.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Friday, February 18, 2022
Monday, February 14, 2022
Chin Could Go back to Federal Prison
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A Michigan judge has opened the door for a transfer to federal prison for one of the defendants charged with 11 counts of second degree murder stemming from the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Michigan Judge Michael P. Hatty last week canceled the writ which ordered Glenn Chin to be transferred from a federal prison in Pennsylvania to the Livingston County Jail in Michigan to face the murder charges.
Chin, who already has been convicted of federal charges stemming from the outbreak, must now convince federal officials to return him to federal custody.
He is serving a 10.5 year federal sentence following his conviction on racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud charges.
Both Chin and co-defendant Barry Cadden have indicated that conditions in the federal prison system are preferable to the county system. Chin has also charged that he has been the subject to racial slurs at the Michigan jail.
Officlals of the Michigan Attorney General's office said Hatty's action will have no effect on Chin having to face the Michigan murder charges and it does not mean Chin can simply be released to the public in Michigan.
Judge Hatty canceled the writ that brought Chin here from federal prison, meaning he can be returned there while this case is pending, according to one of the lawyers involved in the case.
Hatty did not set a bond for Chin, which means he cannot be released to the public.
Approval of the Federal Bureau of Prisons would be necessary for Chin to be transferred to a federal facility. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
A Michigan judge has opened the door for a transfer to federal prison for one of the defendants charged with 11 counts of second degree murder stemming from the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Michigan Judge Michael P. Hatty last week canceled the writ which ordered Glenn Chin to be transferred from a federal prison in Pennsylvania to the Livingston County Jail in Michigan to face the murder charges.
Chin, who already has been convicted of federal charges stemming from the outbreak, must now convince federal officials to return him to federal custody.
He is serving a 10.5 year federal sentence following his conviction on racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud charges.
Both Chin and co-defendant Barry Cadden have indicated that conditions in the federal prison system are preferable to the county system. Chin has also charged that he has been the subject to racial slurs at the Michigan jail.
Officlals of the Michigan Attorney General's office said Hatty's action will have no effect on Chin having to face the Michigan murder charges and it does not mean Chin can simply be released to the public in Michigan.
Judge Hatty canceled the writ that brought Chin here from federal prison, meaning he can be returned there while this case is pending, according to one of the lawyers involved in the case.
Hatty did not set a bond for Chin, which means he cannot be released to the public.
Approval of the Federal Bureau of Prisons would be necessary for Chin to be transferred to a federal facility. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Former NECC VP Repeats New Trial Appeal.
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
The former vice president and part owner of a defunct drug compounding firm has filed yet another appeal for a new trial contending he was unduly prejudiced in the original trial.
The lawyer for Gregory Conigliaro, the former vice president of the New England Compounding Center, charged today that federal prosecutors repeatedly defied rulings by the presiding judge and presented evidence or comments about Conigliaro's involvement in a recycling business located next to the NECC, the company blamed for the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Conigliaro, part owner of NECC, was convicted of a single count of conspiring to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is now asking for a new trial on that charges.
Daniel Rabinowitz, Conigliaro's lawyer, said in a 16-page filing, that the references to the recycling busines, known as Conigliaro Industries, violated U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns order 10 times.
Rabinowitz said the U.S. Attorney's office also violated Stearns decision that prosecutors could not present evidence of Conigliaro's profits from NECC unless support was presented justifying the use of that evidence beforehand.
Those and other actions by prosecutors, Rabinowitz said, supported the motion for Conigliaro to get a new trial.
In a related action, the lawyer for co-defendant and star prosecution witness Robert Ronzio, asked the court to order that his passport be returned. Earlier this week Stearns ruled that Ronzio need not serve any prison time following his conviction on the same conspiracy charge.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
The former vice president and part owner of a defunct drug compounding firm has filed yet another appeal for a new trial contending he was unduly prejudiced in the original trial.
The lawyer for Gregory Conigliaro, the former vice president of the New England Compounding Center, charged today that federal prosecutors repeatedly defied rulings by the presiding judge and presented evidence or comments about Conigliaro's involvement in a recycling business located next to the NECC, the company blamed for the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Conigliaro, part owner of NECC, was convicted of a single count of conspiring to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is now asking for a new trial on that charges.
Daniel Rabinowitz, Conigliaro's lawyer, said in a 16-page filing, that the references to the recycling busines, known as Conigliaro Industries, violated U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns order 10 times.
Rabinowitz said the U.S. Attorney's office also violated Stearns decision that prosecutors could not present evidence of Conigliaro's profits from NECC unless support was presented justifying the use of that evidence beforehand.
Those and other actions by prosecutors, Rabinowitz said, supported the motion for Conigliaro to get a new trial.
In a related action, the lawyer for co-defendant and star prosecution witness Robert Ronzio, asked the court to order that his passport be returned. Earlier this week Stearns ruled that Ronzio need not serve any prison time following his conviction on the same conspiracy charge.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Ronzio Gets No Prison Time
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
The government's star witness will serve no prison time for his role in a deadly fungal meningitis that ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients across the country.
In U.S. District Court in Boston, Judge Richard G. Stearns, following the recommendation of prosecutors, sentenced Robert A. Ronzio to "time served," which means he will serve no jail time.
In fact Ronzio has served little or no jail time since his indictment in 2014.
Ronzio entered a guilty plea to a charge that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ronzio was the national sales director for the New England Compounding Center, the firm blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
NECC told regulators that the company only filled prescriptions with patient specific prescriptions. In fact the company was mass producing drugs without proper prescriptions
A Rhode Island resident, Ronzio was one of 14 people connected to NECC who were indicted in December of 2014.
Ronzio testified extensively for the U.S. Attorney's office in the trials of his former NECC colleagues.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
The government's star witness will serve no prison time for his role in a deadly fungal meningitis that ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients across the country.
In U.S. District Court in Boston, Judge Richard G. Stearns, following the recommendation of prosecutors, sentenced Robert A. Ronzio to "time served," which means he will serve no jail time.
In fact Ronzio has served little or no jail time since his indictment in 2014.
Ronzio entered a guilty plea to a charge that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ronzio was the national sales director for the New England Compounding Center, the firm blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
NECC told regulators that the company only filled prescriptions with patient specific prescriptions. In fact the company was mass producing drugs without proper prescriptions
A Rhode Island resident, Ronzio was one of 14 people connected to NECC who were indicted in December of 2014.
Ronzio testified extensively for the U.S. Attorney's office in the trials of his former NECC colleagues.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Saturday, February 5, 2022
Prosecutors Seek No Jail Time for Ronzio
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Citing his key role in the conviction of his former colleagues, government prosecutors are recomending that the sales director of a defunct drug company which caused a deadly fungal meningitis, get no jail time.
In a seven page filing in the U.S. District Court in Boston, federal prosecutors said Robert A. Ronzio provided "subtantial assistance" in exposing what realy happened at the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. The proposed sentence also calls for a $100 fine
The out break ultimately caused 100 deaths when patients were injected with a steroid laden with deadly fungi. Over 700 additional patients were sickened.
Ronzio was the national sales director at NECC and, but for a departure from sentencing guidelines, could get a sentence of up to 18 months.
. Citing Ronzio's guilty plea to the charge of conspiring to deceive the U.s. Food and Drug Administration, prosecutors said Ronzio gave "substantial assistance" by providing testimony in three trials of his former NECC colleagues.
Stating that Ronzio provided "truthful and reliable" testimony, the brief states that Ronzio accepted responsibility for his criminal actions.
According to prosecutors Ronzio and other key NECC employees conspired to convince regulators that NECC was a small family owned company providing drugs only with patient specific prescriptions.
In fact NECC was mass producing drugs and acting as a manufacturer without patient specific prescriptions. Drug manufacturers are subject to stricter FDA regulation.
Records show that while awaiting trial, Ronzio, with goverment approval, went to work for a Florida drug compounding company.
Contact: wfrochejr@gmail.com
Citing his key role in the conviction of his former colleagues, government prosecutors are recomending that the sales director of a defunct drug company which caused a deadly fungal meningitis, get no jail time.
In a seven page filing in the U.S. District Court in Boston, federal prosecutors said Robert A. Ronzio provided "subtantial assistance" in exposing what realy happened at the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. The proposed sentence also calls for a $100 fine
The out break ultimately caused 100 deaths when patients were injected with a steroid laden with deadly fungi. Over 700 additional patients were sickened.
Ronzio was the national sales director at NECC and, but for a departure from sentencing guidelines, could get a sentence of up to 18 months.
. Citing Ronzio's guilty plea to the charge of conspiring to deceive the U.s. Food and Drug Administration, prosecutors said Ronzio gave "substantial assistance" by providing testimony in three trials of his former NECC colleagues.
Stating that Ronzio provided "truthful and reliable" testimony, the brief states that Ronzio accepted responsibility for his criminal actions.
According to prosecutors Ronzio and other key NECC employees conspired to convince regulators that NECC was a small family owned company providing drugs only with patient specific prescriptions.
In fact NECC was mass producing drugs and acting as a manufacturer without patient specific prescriptions. Drug manufacturers are subject to stricter FDA regulation.
Records show that while awaiting trial, Ronzio, with goverment approval, went to work for a Florida drug compounding company.
Contact: wfrochejr@gmail.com
Friday, February 4, 2022
Conigliaro, Carter Seek New Trial
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Charging that prosecutors only gained his conviction by sloshing through "swampy ground," the former vice president and part owner of a rogue drug compounding firm is asking for a new trial on charges he conspired to defraud the federal government.
In a 16-page filing in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. lawyers for Gregory Conigliaro said prosecutors presented improper evidence including a statement that Conigliaro made millions from the now defunct New England Compounding Center.
He was joined by co-defendant Sharon Carter, who is also asking for a new trial on similar grounds.
The two defendants' filings were countered by federal prosecutors who filed a 12-page brief upholding the two convictions and concluding that none of the claims by Conigliaro warranted "the extraordinary relief of a new trial."
The two were among 14 indicted in late 2014 following a two year probe of the 2012 fungal meningitis, caused by contaminated NECC drugs. More than 100 patients eventually died after being injected with the fungus laden steroids.
Carter and Conigliaro were convicted of conspiring to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by contending that NECC was a small family owned company and not subject to federal regulation.
Carter and Conigliaro were convicted after an eight week trial. The presiding judge. Richard G. Stearns later overturned the jury's decisions and acquitted the two only to have the the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals restore the convictions.
In the Conigliaro appeal, Gregory Rabinowitz, his attorney, argued that prosecutors, despite a decision by Stearns, improperly charged that the former NECC officer made millions from the company.
In addition he wrote that jurors may have concluded that NECC was "the cause of it all" because of improper testimony and comments by prosecutors.
He also argued that jurors may have wrongly concluded that Conigliaro was guilty on the basis of so-called spillover evidence presented against co-defendants facing more serious charges.
The brief filed in behalf of Carter concluded it would be "a miscarriage of justice" were the appeal to be denied.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Charging that prosecutors only gained his conviction by sloshing through "swampy ground," the former vice president and part owner of a rogue drug compounding firm is asking for a new trial on charges he conspired to defraud the federal government.
In a 16-page filing in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. lawyers for Gregory Conigliaro said prosecutors presented improper evidence including a statement that Conigliaro made millions from the now defunct New England Compounding Center.
He was joined by co-defendant Sharon Carter, who is also asking for a new trial on similar grounds.
The two defendants' filings were countered by federal prosecutors who filed a 12-page brief upholding the two convictions and concluding that none of the claims by Conigliaro warranted "the extraordinary relief of a new trial."
The two were among 14 indicted in late 2014 following a two year probe of the 2012 fungal meningitis, caused by contaminated NECC drugs. More than 100 patients eventually died after being injected with the fungus laden steroids.
Carter and Conigliaro were convicted of conspiring to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by contending that NECC was a small family owned company and not subject to federal regulation.
Carter and Conigliaro were convicted after an eight week trial. The presiding judge. Richard G. Stearns later overturned the jury's decisions and acquitted the two only to have the the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals restore the convictions.
In the Conigliaro appeal, Gregory Rabinowitz, his attorney, argued that prosecutors, despite a decision by Stearns, improperly charged that the former NECC officer made millions from the company.
In addition he wrote that jurors may have concluded that NECC was "the cause of it all" because of improper testimony and comments by prosecutors.
He also argued that jurors may have wrongly concluded that Conigliaro was guilty on the basis of so-called spillover evidence presented against co-defendants facing more serious charges.
The brief filed in behalf of Carter concluded it would be "a miscarriage of justice" were the appeal to be denied.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Thursday, February 3, 2022
USN Monthly River Report Filed
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A Greene County chemical firm dropped its usage of water from the Nolichucky River in January according to a report filed wit the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Department.
The company reported that it pumped 13.1 million gallons in January, down from the 16.7 million gallons pumped to its Midway manufacturing operations in December. The company uses the water in the production of ammonium nitrate and related products.
The wastewater pumped back into the river however jumped substantially jumpimg from 4.28 million gallons in December to nearly 8 million gallons in January.
The water is pumped to and from the river in twin pipelines running fron the 82.1 milemarker on the Nolichucky to the Midway plant.
The amount drawn fom the river only exceeded $1 million gallons on two days in the month including Jan. 7.
On only two days in January did the company discharge more than 500,000 gallonsback into the river.
Contact: wfroche999@gmail.com
A Greene County chemical firm dropped its usage of water from the Nolichucky River in January according to a report filed wit the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Department.
The company reported that it pumped 13.1 million gallons in January, down from the 16.7 million gallons pumped to its Midway manufacturing operations in December. The company uses the water in the production of ammonium nitrate and related products.
The wastewater pumped back into the river however jumped substantially jumpimg from 4.28 million gallons in December to nearly 8 million gallons in January.
The water is pumped to and from the river in twin pipelines running fron the 82.1 milemarker on the Nolichucky to the Midway plant.
The amount drawn fom the river only exceeded $1 million gallons on two days in the month including Jan. 7.
On only two days in January did the company discharge more than 500,000 gallonsback into the river.
Contact: wfroche999@gmail.com
Chin Seeks Return to Fed Custody
By WalterF. Roche Jr..
.
A former pharmacist facing 11 counts of second degree murder in Michigan is seeking to return to federal custody to serve out his 11.5 year federal sentence following his conviction for racketeering, mail fraud and related charges..
In a motion filed this week in Livigston County, lawyers for Glenn Chin asked that he be transferred from the Livingston County Jail and be sent back to a federal prison..
The Michigan Attorney General is opposing that motion and a hearing is scheduled for later this month beford Judge Michael Hatty..
Chin and co-defendant Barry Cadden have been seeking to have the Michigan charges dismissed contending that prosecutors failed to present sufficiant evidence for the case to be bound over for a jury trial..
Both Cadden and Chin have been held in Michigan for several months. Previously they were being held in separate federal prisons in Pennsylvania. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.co
.
A former pharmacist facing 11 counts of second degree murder in Michigan is seeking to return to federal custody to serve out his 11.5 year federal sentence following his conviction for racketeering, mail fraud and related charges..
In a motion filed this week in Livigston County, lawyers for Glenn Chin asked that he be transferred from the Livingston County Jail and be sent back to a federal prison..
The Michigan Attorney General is opposing that motion and a hearing is scheduled for later this month beford Judge Michael Hatty..
Chin and co-defendant Barry Cadden have been seeking to have the Michigan charges dismissed contending that prosecutors failed to present sufficiant evidence for the case to be bound over for a jury trial..
Both Cadden and Chin have been held in Michigan for several months. Previously they were being held in separate federal prisons in Pennsylvania. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.co
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
AG Seeks Rejection of Cadden Appeal
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Citing direct and circumstantial evidence, the Michigan Attorney General is asking the state Supreme Court to deny the appeal of a former pharmacist and drug company executive charged with second degree murder in the deaths of 11 Michigan residents.
In a 31-page filing today in the state Supreme Court Attorney General Dana Nessel charged that Barry J. Cadden's actions and inactions led to the clean room at the New England Compounding Center running out of control and "creating wonton and willful disregard" for the liklihood that death or serious injury would result.
Cadden was the president and part owner of NECC, the now defunct Massachusetts company blamed for a nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak that ultimately took the lives of 100 patients and sickened more than 700 others.
Both Cadden and Glenn Chin, who was a supervising phamracist at NECC, have been charged with second degree murder in a case brought by the state Attorney General. Both defendants contend there was insufficent evidence for a Lvingston County judge to bind them over for a jury trial on the charges.
In the motion filed today prosecutors cited the testimony of NECC employees who described how in 2011 and 2012 the company abandoned sanitation standards in order to meet increased production demands.
In one case drugs were shipped on the day they were produced, before they had even been tested.
Nessel's plea to have the appeal denied notes that similar claims of insufficient evidence already have been denied at every step in lower courts. As to the claim that prosecutors failed to identify a single act of Cadden's that caused the deaths, the motion states, "The record reflects several actions by Cadden which led to the clean room (where the drugs were produced) being out of control." Charging there was a willful disregard for the liklihood that the actions would cause death or serious bodily injury, the motion concludes that the evidence shows Cadden was not only responsible for but also complicit in the clean room's deterioration. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Citing direct and circumstantial evidence, the Michigan Attorney General is asking the state Supreme Court to deny the appeal of a former pharmacist and drug company executive charged with second degree murder in the deaths of 11 Michigan residents.
In a 31-page filing today in the state Supreme Court Attorney General Dana Nessel charged that Barry J. Cadden's actions and inactions led to the clean room at the New England Compounding Center running out of control and "creating wonton and willful disregard" for the liklihood that death or serious injury would result.
Cadden was the president and part owner of NECC, the now defunct Massachusetts company blamed for a nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak that ultimately took the lives of 100 patients and sickened more than 700 others.
Both Cadden and Glenn Chin, who was a supervising phamracist at NECC, have been charged with second degree murder in a case brought by the state Attorney General. Both defendants contend there was insufficent evidence for a Lvingston County judge to bind them over for a jury trial on the charges.
In the motion filed today prosecutors cited the testimony of NECC employees who described how in 2011 and 2012 the company abandoned sanitation standards in order to meet increased production demands.
In one case drugs were shipped on the day they were produced, before they had even been tested.
Nessel's plea to have the appeal denied notes that similar claims of insufficient evidence already have been denied at every step in lower courts. As to the claim that prosecutors failed to identify a single act of Cadden's that caused the deaths, the motion states, "The record reflects several actions by Cadden which led to the clean room (where the drugs were produced) being out of control." Charging there was a willful disregard for the liklihood that the actions would cause death or serious bodily injury, the motion concludes that the evidence shows Cadden was not only responsible for but also complicit in the clean room's deterioration. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com