John Devlin, Multistate Patient Brokering, New Jersey 2024

TRENTON, N.J. – A multistate patient brokering scheme has led to a sentence of 12 months and one day in prison for a Maryland man.

John Devlin, 37, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

The scheme, which operated in New Jersey, Maryland, California, and other states, involved bribing individuals addicted to heroin and other drugs to enter into drug rehabilitation centers in exchange for referral fees from those facilities.

Devlin, along with his conspirators, owned and operated a marketing company in California. The company maintained contractual relationships with drug treatment facilities around the country, including the ones run by Mohammad, Philhower, and Passas.

The marketing company engaged a nationwide network of recruiters, including Costas in New Jersey, to identify and recruit potential patients who were addicted to heroin or other drugs and who had robust private health insurance.

To convince these individuals to enroll in drug rehabilitation in exchange for a bribe, recruiters offered to pay them as much as several thousand dollars, with the approval of Devlin and his conspirators.

The drug treatment facilities run by Mohammad, Philhower, and Passas had contracts with the marketing company and typically paid a fee of $5,000 to $10,000 per patient referral.

Devlin was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release on May 14, 2024.

The multistate patient brokering scheme caused millions of dollars in losses for health insurers.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/maryland-man-sentenced-year-and-day-prison-multistate-patient-brokering-and-bribery