By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Lawyers for a pharmacist convicted of racketeering and conspiracy are asking a federal judge to allow them to file a brief against a proposed $82 million restitution order under seal, which would prevent members of the public from viewing it.
In a two-page filing in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., lawyers for Barry J. Cadden, said that their filing in opposition to a recent government motion should be sealed because that government motion contained "personal and confidential patient information" that was previously sealed at prosecutors' request.
Filed by Bruce Singal, Cadden's lawyer, the motion was filed along with another motion opposing the prosecution's proposal to nearly double Cadden's nine year prison sentence.
Cadden, the one time president and part owner of the New England Compounding Center, was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy and violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.
NECC, which went bankrupt and shut down, shipped thousands of vials of highly contaminated steroids to doctors and clinics across the country. The resulting fungal meningitis outbreak would eventually sicken more than 700 patients, killing more than 100 of them.
The government motion charges that the actions and inactions of Cadden and co-defendant Glenn Chin were responsible for the deaths and serious injuries.
Cadden, the government filing states, showed an "unconscionable disregard for the lives of the patients injected with his drugs."
Cadden and Chin's actions and inactions caused "an unprecedented public health crisis," the prosecution brief states.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Monday, June 14, 2021
Saturday, June 12, 2021
Cadden Fights Increased Prison Sentence
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
One of the former pharmacists convicted of racketeering and related charges is asking a federal judge not to nearly double his sentence, but he does concede a $175,000 forfeiture order should be increased but only to $249,538.
In a 42-page filing in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. Bruce Singal, the attorney for Barry J. Cadden, wrote that the original nine-year sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns met the requirements of law and should not be increased to 17.5 years as proposed by federal prosecutors.
The filing comes ahead of a July 7 hearing before Stearns who was ordered by the !st Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the sentences he originally imposed on Cadden and co-defendant Glenn Chin.
The Cadden brief, much like one already filed in Chin's behalf, argues that several sentencing enhancements sought by federal prosecutors are not justified. Those include additional punishment because the victims were not "unusually vulnerable."
Noting that Cadden was not the physician who injected contaminated drugs into the patients, the brief states that Cadden didn't even know who the patients were.
Cadden and Chin were among 14 people connected to the now defunct New England Compounding Center who were indicted in late 2014 following a two year probe of the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. Cadden was president and part owner of NECC while Chin was a supervising pharmacist.
The steroids shipped by NECC in 2012 were riddled with a deadly fungus that traveled up the spines of unsuspecting victims causing death and serious injury.
The Cadden brief charges that it was Chin who failed to act to ensure that the methylprednisolone acetate was sterile.
Citing internal memos that became public during Cadden's 10-week trial, the brief states that Cadden sought to make NECC "bulletproof" by ordering additional testing and faulting Chin for not doing so.
Cadden's sentence, the brief states, should not be increased because prosecutors failed to prove that Cadden acted in reckless disregard of the risk of death or serious injury to patients treated with NECC drugs.
"The government significantly overstates Cadden's relevant conduct," the filing continues, adding that based on past history Cadden had every reason to believe the drugs being shipped out in 2012 were sterile.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
One of the former pharmacists convicted of racketeering and related charges is asking a federal judge not to nearly double his sentence, but he does concede a $175,000 forfeiture order should be increased but only to $249,538.
In a 42-page filing in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. Bruce Singal, the attorney for Barry J. Cadden, wrote that the original nine-year sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns met the requirements of law and should not be increased to 17.5 years as proposed by federal prosecutors.
The filing comes ahead of a July 7 hearing before Stearns who was ordered by the !st Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the sentences he originally imposed on Cadden and co-defendant Glenn Chin.
The Cadden brief, much like one already filed in Chin's behalf, argues that several sentencing enhancements sought by federal prosecutors are not justified. Those include additional punishment because the victims were not "unusually vulnerable."
Noting that Cadden was not the physician who injected contaminated drugs into the patients, the brief states that Cadden didn't even know who the patients were.
Cadden and Chin were among 14 people connected to the now defunct New England Compounding Center who were indicted in late 2014 following a two year probe of the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. Cadden was president and part owner of NECC while Chin was a supervising pharmacist.
The steroids shipped by NECC in 2012 were riddled with a deadly fungus that traveled up the spines of unsuspecting victims causing death and serious injury.
The Cadden brief charges that it was Chin who failed to act to ensure that the methylprednisolone acetate was sterile.
Citing internal memos that became public during Cadden's 10-week trial, the brief states that Cadden sought to make NECC "bulletproof" by ordering additional testing and faulting Chin for not doing so.
Cadden's sentence, the brief states, should not be increased because prosecutors failed to prove that Cadden acted in reckless disregard of the risk of death or serious injury to patients treated with NECC drugs.
"The government significantly overstates Cadden's relevant conduct," the filing continues, adding that based on past history Cadden had every reason to believe the drugs being shipped out in 2012 were sterile.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Friday, June 11, 2021
Cadden-Chin Michigan Case on Hold
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
With appeals to the Michigan Supreme Court pending a Livingston Circuit Court Judge has agreed to delay moving ahead towards a trial in the cases of two former pharmacists charged with second degree murder.
Judge Michael Hatty agreed to the delay today in the cases of Glenn Chin and Barry Cadden following a brief session in the county courthouse.
The two were charged with 11 counts of second degree murder for their roles in the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. The 11 victims died after being injected with fungus infested steroids produced at the Massachusetts company where both worked.
Hatty agreed to the delay following the disclosure that attorneys for the two defendants are appealing a decision of his to the state Supreme Court.
The appeals are questioning Hatty's decision that there was sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. A ruling by Judge Shauna Murphy made the initial finding that there was sufficient evidence to bind the two over to face the murder charges.
Hatty did set a date for another status conference on Sept. 24 at 10 a.m.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
With appeals to the Michigan Supreme Court pending a Livingston Circuit Court Judge has agreed to delay moving ahead towards a trial in the cases of two former pharmacists charged with second degree murder.
Judge Michael Hatty agreed to the delay today in the cases of Glenn Chin and Barry Cadden following a brief session in the county courthouse.
The two were charged with 11 counts of second degree murder for their roles in the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. The 11 victims died after being injected with fungus infested steroids produced at the Massachusetts company where both worked.
Hatty agreed to the delay following the disclosure that attorneys for the two defendants are appealing a decision of his to the state Supreme Court.
The appeals are questioning Hatty's decision that there was sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. A ruling by Judge Shauna Murphy made the initial finding that there was sufficient evidence to bind the two over to face the murder charges.
Hatty did set a date for another status conference on Sept. 24 at 10 a.m.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Monday, June 7, 2021
Michigan Prosecutor Off the Cadden/Chin Case?
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A hearing is scheduled for this week in the murder cases against two pharmacists, but apparently the chief prosecutor will not be there.
According to a spokeswoman for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, Assistant Attorney General Gregory Townsend has been suspended from his docket, pending an investigation into allegations that he failed to disclose plea deals cut with three jailhouse snitches in the trial of a man charged with felony murder in the deaths of five children.
Asked if Townsend will be at the status conference scheduled for Friday in the cases against Barry J. Cadden and Glen Chin, Attorney General spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said that another assistant attorney general, Denise Hart, remains assigned to the case. She said she did not know if any other attorneys have been assigned to the case.
Another spokeswoman for Nessel, Lynsey Mukomel, said the agency will conduct a comprehensive audit of Townsend's work. The allegations against Townsend stem from a case more than two decades ago when an Oakland County man was charged with arson and felony murder in the death of five children.
Townsend was the lead prosecutor for the Oakland County District Attorney on the case and apparently did not disclose that jailhouse snitches, who were primary witnesses against the defendant, had been given deals promising reduced charges, no charges or reduced sentences. Juwan Deering, the defendant, has been in jail for 14 years following his conviction on those charges.
The hearing Friday is a status conference before Circuit Court Judge Michael Hatty. The 11 murder charges against Chin and Cadden stem from their roles in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak caused by drugs shipped to Michigan by the New England Compounding Center.
Cadeen was president and part owner of NECC, while Chin was a supervising pharmacist at the now defunct Massachusetts company.
The case landed back in Hatty's court after the Michigan Court of Appeals turned down appeals filed by lawyers for Cadden and Chin. They had challenged the decision to bind the case over for trial.
A further appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court is expected and that could trigger at least a temporary halt to proceedings before Hatty.
In prior hearings in the Cadden and Chin case several former NECC employees testified for the prosecution. No charges were brought against those employees and there was no disclosure of any plea deals with those individuals from the state Attorney General's office.
Contact:wfrochjr999@gmail.com
A hearing is scheduled for this week in the murder cases against two pharmacists, but apparently the chief prosecutor will not be there.
According to a spokeswoman for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, Assistant Attorney General Gregory Townsend has been suspended from his docket, pending an investigation into allegations that he failed to disclose plea deals cut with three jailhouse snitches in the trial of a man charged with felony murder in the deaths of five children.
Asked if Townsend will be at the status conference scheduled for Friday in the cases against Barry J. Cadden and Glen Chin, Attorney General spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said that another assistant attorney general, Denise Hart, remains assigned to the case. She said she did not know if any other attorneys have been assigned to the case.
Another spokeswoman for Nessel, Lynsey Mukomel, said the agency will conduct a comprehensive audit of Townsend's work. The allegations against Townsend stem from a case more than two decades ago when an Oakland County man was charged with arson and felony murder in the death of five children.
Townsend was the lead prosecutor for the Oakland County District Attorney on the case and apparently did not disclose that jailhouse snitches, who were primary witnesses against the defendant, had been given deals promising reduced charges, no charges or reduced sentences. Juwan Deering, the defendant, has been in jail for 14 years following his conviction on those charges.
The hearing Friday is a status conference before Circuit Court Judge Michael Hatty. The 11 murder charges against Chin and Cadden stem from their roles in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak caused by drugs shipped to Michigan by the New England Compounding Center.
Cadeen was president and part owner of NECC, while Chin was a supervising pharmacist at the now defunct Massachusetts company.
The case landed back in Hatty's court after the Michigan Court of Appeals turned down appeals filed by lawyers for Cadden and Chin. They had challenged the decision to bind the case over for trial.
A further appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court is expected and that could trigger at least a temporary halt to proceedings before Hatty.
In prior hearings in the Cadden and Chin case several former NECC employees testified for the prosecution. No charges were brought against those employees and there was no disclosure of any plea deals with those individuals from the state Attorney General's office.
Contact:wfrochjr999@gmail.com
11-year Prison Sentence in Drug Compounding Fraud
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A Georgia man has been sentenced to an 11-year federal jail term following his conviction on charges stemming from a scheme to defraud the federal government through the purchase of unnecessary compounded drugs.
Eric Santos was given that sentence late last week in U.S. District Court in Miami, Fl. follwoing his guilty plea on charges of conspiracy to commit ehealthcare fraud.
According to prosecutors Santos paid physicians to write prescriptions callling for specially medicated creams. He then steered those prescritions to a Florida drug compounding firm, Patient Care America.
According to court records Santos then received kickbacks totaling $7 million from Patient Care America.
The drugs were billed to Tricare, the federal program which provides healthcare to members of the military and their dependents. Prosecutors say the special medications were not medically necessary.
In addition to the prison sentence Santos was ordered to pay $11.8 million in restitution and to forfeit $7.6 million.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
A Georgia man has been sentenced to an 11-year federal jail term following his conviction on charges stemming from a scheme to defraud the federal government through the purchase of unnecessary compounded drugs.
Eric Santos was given that sentence late last week in U.S. District Court in Miami, Fl. follwoing his guilty plea on charges of conspiracy to commit ehealthcare fraud.
According to prosecutors Santos paid physicians to write prescriptions callling for specially medicated creams. He then steered those prescritions to a Florida drug compounding firm, Patient Care America.
According to court records Santos then received kickbacks totaling $7 million from Patient Care America.
The drugs were billed to Tricare, the federal program which provides healthcare to members of the military and their dependents. Prosecutors say the special medications were not medically necessary.
In addition to the prison sentence Santos was ordered to pay $11.8 million in restitution and to forfeit $7.6 million.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Chin Pleads for Original Sentence
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Charging that he has been subjected to racist taunts while confined to a Michigan jail, a convicted pharmacist is asking a federal judge not to increase the eight year prison sentence he is serving for conviction on racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud charges.
In a 29-page filing today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., lawyers for Glenn A. Chin, 53, said the 17.5 year sentence proposed by federal prosecutors was not justified despite an appeals court ruling opening the door to a lengthier sentence.
The motion filed by Chin's lawyer James Sultan charged that Chin's role in the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak did not justify more than doubling his original sentence.
The sentencing of Chin and co-defendant Barry J. Cadden will be the subject of a July 7 hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns, whose sentencing ruling was questioned by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.
Chin's motion also challenges the appeals court ruling that called on Stearns to consider thousands of victims of the fungal meningitis as vulnerable victims, which would could make them eligible for $82 million in restitution.
"The patients were not unusally vulnerable," the brief states, adding that the prosecution failed to prove that any act by Chin caused the drugs to become contaminated with deadly fungi.
"The patients were not victims of Chin's conduct," the filing states.
Noting that Chin was transferred to Michign in December of 2019 from a federal prison in Pennsylvania where he was serving his eight year federal sentence," the filing states that Chin "has languished ever since."
Arguing that conditions in the Michigan jail are "far worse," the filing states Chin has "been subjected to racist taunts and threats" because of his Chinese heritage. Nonetheless, the filing continues, "Chin has consistently followed the rules and has had no disciplinary infractions."
To back up that claim, an attachment to the filing includes a statement from a Livingston County Sheriff's office employee, Roy Asquith, stating that Chin had been involved in no incidents during his 506 days at the county jail and was "a very compliant inmate."
The filing disputes the prosecution claim that Chin was a major figure in what went on at the New England Compounding Center. Instead, Sultan wrote that Chin was a salaried employee who merely followed orders issued by Cadden.
"Cadden not only knew what was going on, he directed it," the filing states.
Concluding that Chin was destitute and will never be able to pay restitution, the filing concludes by stating that ordering millions of dollars in restitution would be a waste of time and "a long winding road to nowhere." Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Charging that he has been subjected to racist taunts while confined to a Michigan jail, a convicted pharmacist is asking a federal judge not to increase the eight year prison sentence he is serving for conviction on racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud charges.
In a 29-page filing today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., lawyers for Glenn A. Chin, 53, said the 17.5 year sentence proposed by federal prosecutors was not justified despite an appeals court ruling opening the door to a lengthier sentence.
The motion filed by Chin's lawyer James Sultan charged that Chin's role in the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak did not justify more than doubling his original sentence.
The sentencing of Chin and co-defendant Barry J. Cadden will be the subject of a July 7 hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns, whose sentencing ruling was questioned by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.
Chin's motion also challenges the appeals court ruling that called on Stearns to consider thousands of victims of the fungal meningitis as vulnerable victims, which would could make them eligible for $82 million in restitution.
"The patients were not unusally vulnerable," the brief states, adding that the prosecution failed to prove that any act by Chin caused the drugs to become contaminated with deadly fungi.
"The patients were not victims of Chin's conduct," the filing states.
Noting that Chin was transferred to Michign in December of 2019 from a federal prison in Pennsylvania where he was serving his eight year federal sentence," the filing states that Chin "has languished ever since."
Arguing that conditions in the Michigan jail are "far worse," the filing states Chin has "been subjected to racist taunts and threats" because of his Chinese heritage. Nonetheless, the filing continues, "Chin has consistently followed the rules and has had no disciplinary infractions."
To back up that claim, an attachment to the filing includes a statement from a Livingston County Sheriff's office employee, Roy Asquith, stating that Chin had been involved in no incidents during his 506 days at the county jail and was "a very compliant inmate."
The filing disputes the prosecution claim that Chin was a major figure in what went on at the New England Compounding Center. Instead, Sultan wrote that Chin was a salaried employee who merely followed orders issued by Cadden.
"Cadden not only knew what was going on, he directed it," the filing states.
Concluding that Chin was destitute and will never be able to pay restitution, the filing concludes by stating that ordering millions of dollars in restitution would be a waste of time and "a long winding road to nowhere." Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Michigan Prisoners Offered Covid-19 Vaccine
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
All prisoners at the Livingston County Jail have been offered a Covid-19 vaccine, but only 50 have taken up the offer, according to an official of the county sheriff's department.
The jail has a maximum capacity of 411 inmates and among the current prisoners are Barry J. Cadden, 54, and Glenn A. Chin, 53, who are awaiting trial on second degree murder charges.
Under Sheriff Jeff Warder said in an email response to questions that only two inmates at the facility have tested positive for Covid-19 and those prisoners had been transferred from a federal facility.
When those transfers occurred Cadden and Chin were already in the Livingston County facility.
We confirmed they did not contract the virus while being lodged at our facility," Warder said, adding that the two inmates were never exposed to the general population.
He did not imediately respond when asked if Cadden and Chin were among those vaccinated. Chin and Cadden have been charged with 11 counts of second degree murder for their roles in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
They already have been convicted of racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud in federal court. Cadden, who was president and part owner of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the outbreak.
Chin was a supervising pharmacist at NECC and oversaw activities in the clean room, where fungus riddled steroids were prepared.
Two separate federal juries declined to convict the two of racketeering second degree murder.
Both Chin and Cadden are expected to appeal a recent ruling from the Michigan Court of Appeals, which turned down a motion that would have effectively eliminated the murder charges.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
All prisoners at the Livingston County Jail have been offered a Covid-19 vaccine, but only 50 have taken up the offer, according to an official of the county sheriff's department.
The jail has a maximum capacity of 411 inmates and among the current prisoners are Barry J. Cadden, 54, and Glenn A. Chin, 53, who are awaiting trial on second degree murder charges.
Under Sheriff Jeff Warder said in an email response to questions that only two inmates at the facility have tested positive for Covid-19 and those prisoners had been transferred from a federal facility.
When those transfers occurred Cadden and Chin were already in the Livingston County facility.
We confirmed they did not contract the virus while being lodged at our facility," Warder said, adding that the two inmates were never exposed to the general population.
He did not imediately respond when asked if Cadden and Chin were among those vaccinated. Chin and Cadden have been charged with 11 counts of second degree murder for their roles in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
They already have been convicted of racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud in federal court. Cadden, who was president and part owner of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the outbreak.
Chin was a supervising pharmacist at NECC and oversaw activities in the clean room, where fungus riddled steroids were prepared.
Two separate federal juries declined to convict the two of racketeering second degree murder.
Both Chin and Cadden are expected to appeal a recent ruling from the Michigan Court of Appeals, which turned down a motion that would have effectively eliminated the murder charges.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
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