Joel R. French, a former tight end, will serve a 16-year prison sentence for his role in targeting and pressuring disabled veterans and seniors to provide personal information to obtain orthopedic equipment that they did not want or need, according to the Justice Department. (Joshua Magbanua/U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON — A former NFL player was sentenced to federal prison and ordered to forfeit $17 million for his role in a scheme to bilk Medicare and the Department of Veterans Affairs of $200 million with falsified doctors’ orders for orthotic braces, according to the Justice Department.
Joel “Rufus” French, a former tight end, will serve a 16-year sentence in prison for his part in targeting and pressuring disabled veterans and seniors to provide personal health information to obtain orthopedic equipment that they did not want or need, according to the Justice Department.
Some of the individuals who agreed to the braces had Alzheimer’s and dementia, the Justice Department statement said.
“Fueled by lies, bribes and overseas telemarketers, this corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices — and then billed the taxpayer for it,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division.
In certain instances, call centers altered call recordings to make it seem like patients agreed to the braces when they did not, the Justice Department said.
A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida convicted French on multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to offer, pay, solicit and receive kickbacks.
French paid “sham” telemedicine companies kickbacks to obtain signed orders from doctors and nurse practitioners who never examined and often never spoke to the consumers, according to the Justice Department.
He then sold the orders to marketers and medical supply companies.
Claims were submitted to Medicare and to CHAMPVA, the VA’s Civilian Health and Medical Program.
CHAMPVA provides health care coverage for spouses and children of veterans with a permanent and total service-connected disability or who died from a service-connected condition.
“Schemes such as these compromise the integrity of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ programs and services and divert funds from our nation’s deserving veterans and their families,” said George Wentz, acting special agent in charge of the VA Office of Inspector General Southeast Field Office.
French previously was a standout player for the University of Mississippi, where he was an All-American pick in 1998, according to SuperTalk Mississippi Media, a radio network.
He signed with the Seattle Seahawks for two seasons but suffered a knee injury. He later joined the Green Bay Packers but never played in a regular NFL game.
