Convicted long-term care businessman Philip Esformes was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday for a record Medicare fraud scheme that he ran through his network of nursing homes.
The sentence was delivered by Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. Thursday in the U.S. Southern District of Florida. Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of at least 30 years in prison, while his attorneys called for leniency.
Esformes apologized for his actions during Thursday’s hearing, saying he’s “lost everything I loved and cared about with the utmost intensity” and there was “no one to blame but myself, me,” according to a report by the Chicago Tribune.
In April, a jury found him guilty on 20 charges for bribery, money laundering and paying and receiving kickbacks in connection to the $1.3 billion scheme that occurred between 1998 and 2016. Esformes bribed doctors to admit patients and then cycled them through his nursing and assisted living facilities where they often received medically unnecessary services, or no care at all, according to the Department of Justice.
Scola described Esformes’ crimes as “unmatched in our community” and that he “violated the trust of Medicare and Medicaid in epic proportions,” the report stated.
However, the judge’s sentencing for Esformes also took his past philanthropic efforts into account.
“I think he should get some consideration for his philanthropy, although it’s dangerous to say because he was stealing money from Medicare, so people might say he was giving that money to charity. But the vast majority of the money he made, he made legitimately. More importantly he was a true friend to people known and unknown to him, and that is worthy of mitigation,” Scola said.
A hearing will be held in November to determine final forfeiture and restitution amounts, court documents stated. Federal authorities have requested a forfeiture judgement of $38.7 million — the amount he personally pocketed from the scheme.
Prosecutors have requested that Esformes pay $207 million in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid. Scola questioned the prosecution’s high calculations and ultimately found the program’s loss between $4.9 million and $8.3 million, local reports stated.
