By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Acting swiftly a federal judge has granted a new hearing for a former drug executive seeking to overturn his conviction on conspiracy charges.
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns sitting today set a March 9 date for Gregory Conigliaro to argue for a new trial on charges that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Conigliaro was vice president of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak which ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients.
Stearns had previously acquitted Conigliaro of the conspiracy charge but his decision was overturned by the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
The appeals court then remanded the case back to Stearns to make a decision based on their ruling. Stearns then ruled that Conigliaro was guilty. At the same time, however the appeals court also sent back to Stearns, Conigliaro's petition for a new trial. The higher court issued no opinion on the new trial request.
Taking that opening, Daniel Rabinowitz, Conigliaro's lawyer, earlier this week filed the motion for a formal hearing on the new trial request.
Stearns then set the March 9 date for a hearing and gave lawyers until Feb. 3 to file briefs on the issue.
Prosecutors say Conigliaro conspired to make regulators believe that NECC was a just a family owned state licensed pharmacy not subject to stricter federal requirements.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
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