Cadden Could Face Increased Prison Term, Forfeitures

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A former pharmacist implicated in a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak could have his federal prison sentences extended and financial penalties increased as a result of a federal appeals court ruling.
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns has set a July 7 date for a hearing in his Boston, Mass. courtroom on whether Barry J. Cadden should face additional penalties.
The First Circuit Cout of Appeals, in an 87-page decision issued last year, said Stearns, in setting Cadden's nine year prison sentence had failed to consider whether the victims of the 2012 funagal meningitis outbreak were vulnerable victims. That in turn would bring a longer jail term.
At the same time, Stearns will hear arguments on whether co-defendant Glenn Chin's eight year sentence should be enhanced and penalties increased.
The outbreak was caused by highly contaminated drugs produced at the New England Compounding Center, where Cadden served as president and part owner. Chin was a supervising pharmacist in the clean room where the tainted drugs were produced.
"The district court determined that the patients were necessarily not victims at all," the appeals court noted.
In sending the issue back to Stearns, the appeals panel said the district court erred in not considering that the patients were not just victims but also vulnerable victims.
The appeals court also ruled that Stearns' erred in failing to consider whether Cadden's actions at NECC resulted in the conscious or reckless risk of death or serious injury.
That would, in turn, subject Cadden to a second sentence enhancement.
"The District Court should have found that the enhancement applied," the appeals court ruling states.
"Thus we remand for the District Court to do what it has not yet done; directly consider the risk of death assessment," the appeals court concluded.
As for the financial penalties, the appeals court found that Stearns erred when he concluded that Barry Cadden's wife, Lisa Cadden,'profits from NECC were completely exempt from forfeiture. She was never charged with a crime.
But the appeals court disagreed and sent the issue back to Stearns to determine how much of Lisa Cadden's NECC income was derived from illegal activities.
"We remand for the District Court to consider what amount of Lisa Cadden's earnings should be included in Barry Cadden's forfeiture order because they were tainted by racketeering activity," the 2020 ruling states.
Court records show the Caddens collected some $72 million from NECC in the six year period preceding the outbreak. In a related development, property previously owned by the Caddens has been sold and half of the $300,000 in proceeds will go to the federal government under a forfeiture agreement. The two vacant Wrentham, Mass. lots were adjacent to the Caddens former family home.
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