Former NFL Player Receives 196-Month Sentence in $197 Million Medicare Fraud

A former NFL player was sentenced to 196 months in federal prison on May 7, 2026, for orchestrating a scheme that fraudulently billed Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs nearly $200 million, according to the Department of Justice.

The defendant owned a marketing company and served as the beneficial owner of eight durable medical equipment companies. He obtained and sold patient information along with sham doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients did not want or need. The fraud spanned multiple years and produced $197 million in improper payments from the two federal health programs.

Medicare provides health insurance to roughly 67 million Americans age 65 and older or with certain disabilities. CHAMPVA covers medical care for roughly 2 million spouses and dependents of veterans with service-connected disabilities. The scheme exploited both programs by generating claims for braces that were never medically necessary or delivered.

The sentence changes the defendant’s status from convicted felon at large to federal inmate serving more than 16 years. Restitution and forfeiture proceedings now move forward on a fixed schedule set by the district court. Federal prosecutors must calculate exact loss amounts and identify recoverable assets within deadlines established at sentencing.

Downstream, the Department of Justice will pursue full restitution to Medicare and CHAMPVA trust funds. The ruling also requires the defendant to forfeit ownership interests in the eight DME companies and the marketing firm. Federal health officials gain concrete evidence to strengthen audits of similar DME suppliers that market orthotic devices.

Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services receive another documented case illustrating vulnerabilities in patient-data sales and physician-order verification processes.

This sentencing forms part of the Justice Department’s ongoing enforcement against health-care fraud involving durable medical equipment. The department has previously secured convictions against marketers and DME owners who used telemarketing and sham telemedicine orders to bill federal programs for braces, power wheelchairs and other high-margin items.

The case was prosecuted in federal district court under statutes governing health-care fraud and conspiracy.