Former college football standout Joel Rufus French has been sentenced to over 16 years in federal prison for his involvement in a massive $197 million Medicare fraud scheme that targeted vulnerable seniors and disabled veterans.
French, 48, was convicted in February of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and paying or receiving kickbacks. The scheme involved selling fake doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients didn’t need, using personal information obtained from telemarketing centers to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA).
The Justice Department revealed that French worked with telemarketing call centers to convince elderly Americans to provide personal information under false pretenses. He sold these fraudulent orders to companies, which then billed Medicare for unnecessary medical equipment. French also laundered over $225,000, using part of the funds to pay accomplices.
As part of his sentencing, French was ordered to pay $111 million in restitution and forfeit approximately $17 million in assets seized from his bank accounts.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division said, “This corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans…Today’s sentence makes clear that if you target America’s elderly, sick, or vulnerable — and rob America’s purse doing so — you will be targeted and brought to justice.”
French, who played tight end for the University of Mississippi Rebels from 1996 to 1998, was a unanimous All-American in his final season. After college, he briefly played for the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers but never appeared in an NFL game. His son, Charleston, is currently a football player at the University of North Carolina.
The case has drawn attention for the scale of the fraud and the victimization of those who are often most in need of protection.
