Ronzio Sentencing Delayed Indefinitely

By Walter F. Roche Jr.


The sentencing of a key witness in the criminal probe of a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak has been delayed indefinitely under an agreement between his lawyers and federal prosecutors.
The two-page joint motion was filed today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. Robert Ronzio's sentencing had been scheduled for Jan 31, 2018.
Ronzio, the head of sales for the New England Compounding Center, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's office on Dec. 19, 2016. He entered the plea to a single conspiracy count.
In the motion, prosecutors said Ronzio is expected to testify in the upcoming trial of seven co-defendants.
"His cooperation is not yet complete," the motion states, adding that his sentencing should be delayed until the final trial is completed.
Under his agreement Ronzio  admitted being involved in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ronzio already testified in the  trial of NECC's one time president Barry J. Cadden. The former pharmacist is serving a nine-year prison sentence in a federal prison in Pennsylvania.
Cadden and Ronzio were two of 14 persons connected to the defunct drug compounding firm named in a 2016 indictment. Seven of those defendants have yet to be tried on charges ranging from racketeering to mail fraud to violations of the federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Co-defendant Glenn Chin, who was a supervising pharmacist at NECC, was found guilty of racketeering and mail fraud charges but, like Cadden, he was cleared of 25 counts of second degree murder.
The 2012 outbreak, caused by fungus riddled steroids produced at NECC, took the lives of 76 patients.
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