Crime
Walters sentenced to 18 years in $510 million health care fraud case
Warren County native Wade Walters, 54, was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison Friday
Last July, Walters entered a guilty plea on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of money laundering to avoid going to trial on 37 charges related to a health care conspiracy. The scheme involved multiple people and is believed to be the largest in the state’s history costing the people more than $510 million.
The indictment alleged that Walters was paying kickbacks to practitioners and marketers for the prescribing and referring of fraudulent prescriptions for medically unnecessary compounded medications that were ultimately dispensed by his pharmacies, as well as for his alleged role in a scheme to launder the proceeds of the fraud scheme.
In addition to his prison sentence, Judge Keith Starrett in Hattiesburg also ordered Walters to pay $287.7 million in restitution and fined him $250,000. Walters also must forfeit $56.5 million in cash and other assets.
Numerous other defendants, including another Warren County native Chad Barrett, await trial on charges related to this case.
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